


Lilac Sky

by Clytemnestrasrevenge



Category: VIXX
Genre: Affairs, Alcohol, Alternate Universe - Criminals, Alternate Universe - Hackers, Amnesia, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Car Accidents, Dom/sub Undertones, Everyone Needs Therapy, Guns, Illegal Activities, Imported, M/M, Major Illness, Medical Inaccuracies, Medical Procedures, Organized Crime, Possessive Behavior, Rough Sex, Smoking, The Biggest and Most Absurd Soap Opera I've Ever Written, Unpleasant characters, everyone loves Jaehwan, mafia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:27:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 201,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23356957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clytemnestrasrevenge/pseuds/Clytemnestrasrevenge
Summary: As soon as he turned eighteen, Jaehwan gave up on his useless doctors, moved out of his parents’ house, and steadily began to burn through the contents of his enormous bank accounts. His days on this hell planet were already numbered and Jaehwan didn’t plan to waste a single one.(AKA: that Jaehwan-centric multi-ship clusterfuck.)*Imported and Complete*
Relationships: Cha Hakyeon | N/Han Sanghyuk | Hyuk, Han Sanghyuk | Hyuk/Lee Jaehwan | Ken, Kim Wonshik | Ravi/Lee Jaehwan | Ken, Lee Hongbin/Lee Jaehwan | Ken
Comments: 8
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapters 1 - 14

**Author's Note:**

> HEY NICE TO SEE YOU AGAIN LOLOL  
> *I'm on spring break and quarantined so I had nothing better to do lololol*
> 
> Now that this dumb monster is officially over, and since I'm tired of going on AFF to look at it, I've decided to import Lilac sky back onto my AO3 as a giant thing. It has to be broken up into three sections because of how long it is, but I've made it as few sections as possible.
> 
> Considering this was my first VIXX fic and longest fic to date, I'm honestly still astounded at how stupid it is lolol. If you have read it to completion, thank you for spending your time on it. If you were a reader before I officially deleted it last year, then I apologize for cutting you off short. And if you're new, welcome to my personal hell lolol. 
> 
> This contains the unedited version of the 'Hongbin' chapter that got me so much hate, so read at your own risk. 
> 
> This work was originally 46 chapters, and by the way, if you're new, Jaehwan is the same age as Sanghyuk but everyone else is the same. And I made Jaehwan half French for some reason? Am I French? No. Do I speak French? No! But it happened anyway. 
> 
> Good luck!

**Published at: 2019-02-26**   
**Revised at: 2019-06-02 03:39:31 -0400**   
  
**Chapter 1: The Proposal**

The Proposal

There was really only one was to put this. Lee Jaehwan was dying. Simple as that, no more no less. Jaehwan has always been dying, he knew. Had been dying since the day he was born.

The chronic illness had always been present in him, slowly killing him day by day. Doctors and hospital rooms were a constant fixture in his life since infancy. Experts had told him that he would be lucky to reach his fifteenth birthday, but here he was. A twenty-two-year-old living on borrowed time. Sometimes he wondered where that time was borrowed from.

Since he was stuck at home for the majority of his early and teenage years, Jaehwan had gotten very good at using technology. His parents had given him his first laptop when he turned twelve, and soon after his initial, hesitant strokes of the keyboard, he was well on his way to becoming a coding genius.

At the young age of seventeen, he was solely responsible for the security breach in one of South Korea’s largest and most profitable banks, a crime that he could never actually be accused of, both because his code left absolutely no trace of who created it, and because he hadn’t actually stolen any money. He was just bored.

Despite lacking a formal conviction, Jaehwan’s formidable reputation began drawing in a large network of online contacts. He regularly took on entertaining and high paying consultant jobs, having plenty of free time since he earned his high school degree two years early. As soon as he turned eighteen, Jaehwan gave up on his useless doctors, moved out of his parents’ house, and steadily began to burn through the contents of his enormous bank accounts. His days on this hell planet were already numbered and Jaehwan didn’t plan to waste a single one.

Striding purposefully out of his large walk-in closet, Jaehwan fastened the clasp of his new silver Rolex around his slim wrist, briefly glancing at the watches inscription - _‘We have all the time in the world.’_ \- before going to stand in front of his floor-length mirror.

He was a narrow, thin person. Tall, with a pleasingly sharp jawline and pretty pink lips. There wasn’t much to be done about his rather frail appearance, Jaehwan had tried building his body on several occasions but his sickness always leached the strength out of him immediately, so he never gained any actual muscle.

The hacker reached up and adjusted a stray strand of white-blonde hair before buckling his Gucci belt. He was never one to turn down luxury, it’s not like he could take his money with him.

“I’m heading out, babe,” Jaehwan called, glancing into the game room at his longtime boyfriend, who was currently immersed in the digital mass-murder of an unidentifiable alien species.

“What? Where are you going? It’s like 10 pm,” Hongbin replied distractedly, pausing his video game and spinning his large desk chair around.

Jaehwan gave his boyfriend a smile of pure fondness. He and Hongbin had met online, naturally, on a gaming forum three years ago, and had moved in together after only six months. Their relationship, wild and passionate at its beginning, had now settled into comfortable domesticity. Nothing brought the hacker more joy than a flash of Hongbin’s adorable dimples, the way his hand grazed the small of Jaehwan’s back every time he got close…

“I have that weird meeting, remember? The one Seokjin set up for me, the one he gave me absolutely no information about other than a time and an address,” Jaehwan said, leaning wearily against the door frame and resting a hand on his hip.

“Oh shit, that’s tonight? I still don’t like this, Jae, you could be walking into anything!” Hongbin exclaimed, worry clear in his voice as he abandoned his giant headphones on his desk and pushed himself up.

Jaehwan watched in mild amusement as his boyfriend quickly crossed the room - baggy sweats slung low on his hips so that the tiniest sliver of flat stomach was visible - and came to stand in front of him.

“Do you want me to come with you? You look tired baby; did you take your meds today?” Hongbin asked, snaking his arms around Jaehwan’s waist and nuzzling his cheek.

Jaehwan sighed - not in exasperation, but rather in resignation - resting his forehead on one of Hongbin’s broad shoulders before replying, “Seokjinie said to go alone. And yes, I did take my meds but as you know, they make absolutely _no_ difference.”

His boyfriend held him a bit tighter, pressing a soft kiss atop Jaehwan’s neatly quaffed hair as he whispered, “I know, baby, I wish they did. Just stay safe, ok? I’ll be awake when you get home so you can tell me all about your meeting.”

Jaehwan smiled weakly, brushing his lips across the top Hongbin’s exposed collar bone, before gently extricating himself from their embrace and nodding. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about a thing, babe.”

They both knew full well that that was a lie. Jaehwan could drop dead at any moment, whenever his illness finally got around to killing him, but it was an unspoken rule that neither of them would speak this thought aloud. His body was the real threat, Jaehwan knew, not whatever peril he would face at this mysterious meeting.

“Phone, keys, wallet?” Hongbin called at Jaehwan’s retreating back, and the hacker flashed a thumbs up, grinning and blowing a kiss as over his shoulder as he reached the end of the hallway. “I love you,” Hongbin said, and Jaehwan replied, “Love you too, babe. See you later,” as he pulled the front door open, catching a glimpse of his boyfriend’s anxious face before shutting it behind him with a soft _click_.

He rode the elevator down from their penthouse apartment directly to the private garage under their building, slid into the driver’s seat of his midnight blue LFA, and smoothly peeled out onto the moonlit streets of Seoul.

\---

After a short drive, the GPS told Jaehwan he had arrived at the location Seokjin, a fellow hacker and longtime friend, had given him.

He had checked the address out earlier on google maps, and so it was no surprise when he parked in front of a rather bland looking coffee shop. It was closed which made sense, given that it was 10:30 PM on a Wednesday, but he wondered if this was a mistake. If Seokjin had told him the wrong place, then all prospects of a new job would be in the trash. It wasn’t like Jaehwan was the only hacker in town, this client could easily decide he was a flake and look elsewhere.

Jaehwan got out of the car and locked it, leaning against the hood and staring at the coffee shop’s darkened windows. The street was relatively empty, only a few people illuminated by streetlights, but Jaehwan was too preoccupied to notice much of anything.

The hacker almost never met clients in person but had made an exception this time to get Seokjin to stop whining. Despite being just over 180 centimeters tall, his soft and delicate appearance combined with his obvious youth almost always gave strangers the idea that he was easy to take advantage of. But he usually disabused them of this notion the moment he opened his mouth. Also, dressing as if he was dripping in money didn’t hurt.

Jaehwan was so preoccupied with looking blankly at the glass of the window before him, that he _almost_ didn’t notice the reflection of a sleek black car pulling up behind him and coming to a stop.

He did his best to tamp down his nerves as he slowly turned around, putting a hand on his hip and cocking his head to the side in an attempt to seem arrogant. The driver’s door revealed a short man dressed in a chauffeurs’ uniform, who stepped out, not sparing Jaehwan a single glance before opening the back door.

Jaehwan looked on, unimpressed, as two _intimidatingly large_ men in identical black suits and sunglasses stepped out. “Lee Jaehwan,” said the one on the left. It was a statement, not a question.

“How do you see anything through those shades? It’s night time,” Jaehwan replied easily, grinning as the man shifted on his feet.

“Come with us, sir. Our employer is waiting for you,” the man on the right said sharply, ignoring Jaehwan’s quip and holding a hand out to the open back door. Hesitating for barely a moment at the thought of abandoning his very expensive car on a random street in the middle of the night, Jaehwan sighed audibly before sauntering up to the two men and making to slide onto the back seat.

He was stopped by a large hand on his upper arm, and Jaehwan flicked his eyes in irritation to glare at the man whose glasses he had mocked. “I’ll take your phone, sir. You won’t be needing it.”

Jaehwan _bristled_ , unhappy with the idea of being without his constant link to the internet. But he could clearly see an outline of a handgun under the man’s shirt. These two were clearly hired muscle, and he was too curious to see what kind of client would send thugs to pick up an unknown hacker in the middle of the night to refuse.

“Don’t break it. The contents of this phone are worth more than both your lives and the lives of your families. I expect it back in one piece,” Jaehwan snapped, depositing his phone in the mans outstretched hand before sliding into the car.

\---

The ride was dull. Neither man said a word to Jaehwan, and the cars windows were so darkly tinted that he couldn’t see the route taken to his unknown destination. But they had just pulled up outside of… _somewhere_ … and Jaehwan reached across the man sitting on his left to roll down the window.

It seemed to be allowed because the man didn’t stop him, and Jaehwan peered out at a high stone wall and then a long gravel drive lined with rose bushes, the unmistakable sound of metal gates clanging shut for the behind them.

“Pretty flowers,” Jaehwan said nonchalantly, rolling the window back up and flashing the man a sarcastic smile as he settled back in his seat.

The car crawled slowly to a stop, and the little chauffeur opened the back door once again as Jaehwan followed the thugs out into the fresh night air.

“Thanks for the ride boys. Now, where’s my appointment?” Jaehwan said silkily, ignoring their obvious annoyance and starting to walk up the steps of a ridiculously ostentatious mansion.

He fought his instinct to look up at the expansive building, choosing instead to walk right through the open front door like he owned the place. Wealth didn’t intimidate him, and this client should know.

To the hacker’s slight surprise, his two new friends didn’t follow, and he was met instead by a man in a charcoal suit.

He was standing just inside the entry hall and gave Jaehwan a rather condescending glance before spinning on his heels and hurrying up a flight of stairs. The man’s obvious grace put Jaehwan in mind of a dancer.

“My name is Mr. Cha. Follow me please, my employer is expecting you,” the man said crisply, not bothering to turn around to see if Jaehwan would follow. He hadn’t called the hacker ‘sir’, maybe he didn’t think Jaehwan deserved that much respect.

He did follow though, and the dark red carpeting that lined the stairway cushioned Jaehwan’s footsteps, so they were nearly inaudible. After a few moments of walking in silence, the man, Mr. Cha, stopped in front of a think oak door and knocked once, flashing Jaehwan a sly smile as he said, “My employer cannot _wait_ to meet you.”

The door was opened from the inside, and Jaehwan rolled his shoulders before strolling inside. He caught his breathe and nearly tripped as he laid eyes on one of the waiting men.

Two more of the thugs, they must be body guards, Jaehwan supposed now, were standing on the far wall of what appeared to be a private office. The walls were paneled in dark wood and lined with bookshelves, and there was a small sitting area with a black leather couch and mahogany coffee table. On the other side of the room was a large desk in the same mahogany wood, and behind it sat the most handsome man that Jaehwan had _ever_ seen.

The hacker’s feet seemed glued to the claret colored carpet as he stared at the stranger. He had raven black hair and broad shoulders, with cheekbones that looked sharp enough to cut glass. He was a big man, Jaehwan could tell even when he was seated, his presence fairly screamed _strong_.

Jaehwan’s eyes locked on the strangers, his gaze dark and irises like liquid midnight. He unfolded himself like a spider, confirming Jaehwan’s assumption about his height. He moved in a way that had Jaehwan’s subconscious shouting _predator_. _Danger_.

“You must be the infamous Lee Jaehwan. I’ve been looking forward to finally meeting you,” the man said, flashing Jaehwan a playboy smile. The white of his teeth almost perfectly matched the man’s white button down, and Jaehwan suppressed a shudder.

“Have a seat. My name is Han Sanghyuk, but please, just call me Sanghyuk,” the stranger said, gesturing to an empty chair in front of his desk. “And this is my colleague, Kim Wonshik,” the man, Sanghyuk, continued, pointing at another man Jaehwan hadn’t noticed yet who was already seated.

Jaehwan managed to unglue his feet from the floor, _thank god_ , and he smoothed out nonexistent wrinkles on the front of his black turtleneck before making his way further into the room.

The other man, Wonshik, did not look like he should be sitting. His obvious muscles were nearly bulging through his dark suit-jacket, and the edge of what Jaehwan guessed was a tattoo was visible under his collar. Not to mention is numerous ear piercings. He looked like the thugs who had ridden with Jaehwan on his way here. But the hacker knew better than to make character judgements based on appearance.

“Your hired muscle stole my phone, I’d like it back,” Jaehwan said, his voice carrying a bravado that sounded almost painfully fake.

“Not yet,” Sanghyuk replied easily, holding his hand out for Jaehwan to shake.

The instant their hands met, Jaehwan felt like he accidentally touched an exposed wire. The man’s hand was large, almost completely engulfing Jaehwan’s own. His grip was firm, but not so firm that it hurt. His skin was incredibly soft, and the heat coming off him felt almost feverish. The contact sent a spark through Jaehwan that he shot down to the tips of his toes, but he couldn’t decide if it was good or very, very bad.

The hacker felt extremely off balance. He stared blankly at their clasped hands for a full three seconds before Sanghyuk released him, and he looked up to see his possible employer flash that playboy smile once more.

“Let’s get right down to business,” Sanghyuk said, resuming his seat, and Jaehwan sank rather ungracefully into the waiting chair behind him. He blinked a few times to clear his head before replying, “I need my phone to take notes.”

“Not to worry, I have my proposal already printed for you,” Sanghyuk said, sliding a crisp sheet of paper across the desk. Jaehwan glanced at it once before he snapped, “I don’t like having a paper trail.”

“You really aren’t what I was expecting,” Sanghyuk said, not seeming at all put off by Jaehwan’s rudeness as he continued, “I thought some antisocial comic nerd in a beanie and dirty sweatpants would walk through my door, not a nouveau riche pretty boy.”

This was familiar territory. Jaehwan’s expression hardened, and he folded his hands primly in his lap before replying sarcastically, “I can go change if it would make you more comfortable.”

His comment earned a deep chuckle from the man seated beside him, and Jaehwan clearly heard the man mutter “Cute” under his breath.

“Why is he here?” Jaehwan asked sharply, never breaking eye contact with Sanghyuk as he waved his hand vaguely at the man next to him. “Clearly, you’re the one intending to hire me. I don’t like an audience.”

“Well, he is part of my proposal,” Sanghyuk replied, leaning back in his chair as he continued, “I need you to retrieve some data for me, and in return, my medical team with help find a cure for your _tragic_ illness. Wonshik is my resident doctor.”

“That’s not how this works. You pay me, up front and in cash, and then I do whatever it is you want me to do and we never see each other again. I don’t need your doctor poking and prodding me,” Jaehwan snapped. Almost nobody knew about the hacker’s illness, and if his guard wasn’t up before then it certainly was now.

“Whatever I want you to do?” Sanghyuk asked, his voice dropping an octave and his lips curling into a smirk. The insinuation was clear enough, but the hacker narrowed his eyes and didn’t bother to respond.

Sanghyuk watched him for a few seconds, ignoring Jaehwan’s glare, before saying, “Tell me, what’s it like dating the world champion of online poker five years in a row? You don’t seem the type to need a sugar daddy, unless he’s the one who bought you that watch.”

Jaehwan’s heart stuttered. Hongbin. How did this man know about Hongbin? Nobody knew that they were together, aside from a few of their close friends. He had never made an appearance on Hongbin’s YouTube channel, and Hongbin never talked about him aside from casual mentions of ‘his boyfriend’. Hongbin had in fact bought him this watch, a present for their three-year anniversary, but Jaehwan wasn’t about to say so.

“No sugar, just daddy. Tell me the job, in detail, before I walk out. You’re starting to bore me.” Jaehwan felt his muscles tense. His attempt to play off the mention of Hongbin as nothing more than an annoyance, rather than the blatant invasion of privacy that it was didn’t seem to have worked.

After a few more seconds of staring, Sanghyuk sighed. It was a defeated sound, but Jaehwan wasn’t fooled. “I need you to work your magic on a server farm just outside of town. There is some data stored there that I would like, and I’d prefer not to go through official channels to get it. You will stay here until the job is complete, and I’d like to keep you on retainer in case I have further need of your skills. Payment will be one million dollars; the help of my medical team is just a bonus.”

Jaehwan laughed. A high, cold laugh of incredulity that caused the doctor at his side to go very still. “Not happening, but thanks for the offer. I’m not a puppy you can have at your beck and call, and I don’t work outside my office,” Jaehwan replied, trying to stop himself from laughing any more as he stood up.

The hacker barely made it three steps before Sanghyuk asked softly, “Don’t you know who I am?” Jaehwan laughed again, replying evenly, “Not a clue, and I don’t care to.”

He kept his steps even, mentally cursing himself for letting those men make him leave his car and wondering how the hell he was going to get home, when a hand snaked around his middle and pulled him to a stop. The man holding him had moved absolutely soundlessly.

“You have, no doubt, heard of the Han family.” Sanghyuk said from directly behind him. “The most influential family in Seoul. I believe you were the one who brought down our security network a few years back when those Jung thugs robbed me. I don’t really think you’re in any position to refuse.”

Jaehwan was frozen. Totally and completely frozen. This man was the head of the Han family?! He had heard about them, everyone had, and he had indeed been the one to break through their security system, but the public believed they were politicians. Only people in more dubious lines of work knew the truth. Jaehwan had just been offered a job by the mafia.

“You wouldn’t want something to happen to your precious gamer, would you? It would be such a shame. I’m sure all his YouTube fans would be heartbroken.”

“Is that a threat?” Jaehwan snapped, spinning in place to glare up at Sanghyuk. Nothing could happen to Hongbin, his loving and wonderful Hongbin. The hacker wouldn’t allow that.

The man was too close, much too close. Sanghyuk’s hand had slid around to the hacker’s lower back, fingers splayed wide, and he replied, “Of course it is. Take a day and think over my proposal, I’ll be in touch.”

His smirk was plain, and he lowered his hand before the hacker turned and walked quickly out of the office. Jaehwan’s thoughts were racing. Why the fuck did Seokjin get him a meeting with the head of the mafia?! How did this man know about Hongbin and his own illness?! His panic blurred everything around him as he was escorted back down to the entry hall by the man in the charcoal suit, Mr. Cha.

“I hope you had a pleasant visit,” the man said, but Jaehwan barely heard him as he hurried out the front door. His car was somehow parked in the driveway, and he whirled around to glare at Mr. Cha as he hissed, “If your thugs broke my car, I will end you.”

He didn’t get a response, so he unlocked the door and slid into the passenger seat, almost sitting on his phone. Of course, the mafia would have no trouble stealing his car. It was basically their bread and butter!

Jaehwan started the engine, and peeled down the gravel drive, exiting the iron gate and speeding off in an unknow direction. He had no clue where he was, but all he knew was that he needed to get away from here as fast as possible. He needed to get home to Hongbin. The hacker was so panicked that he didn’t notice the nondescript black vehicle that pulled away from the curb as slowly followed after him.

\---

“That could have gone worse,” Sanghyuk said, after his office door was shut behind the hacker. It really could have gone a lot worse, the pretty boy’s blood could be decorating his walls.

“He doesn’t seem to want my help, regardless of whether he ends up taking the job or not,” Wonshik replied hesitantly. Sanghyuk turned to face him, watching his friend’s expression of bewilderment shift to something resembling professional blankness.

“He’ll take my offer. And he is getting your help. I don’t care if he wants it or not. I’m not having him die before he finishes what I need him to do,” Sanghyuk said coolly, walking back around his desk and resuming his seat. They sat for a few moments in silence, until the office door was opened once more and Hakyeon strolled in, looking very pleased with himself.

“Your nerd threatened to end me if we broke his car,” he said with a laugh, coming to sit in the chair Jaehwan just vacated. “You must have really shaken him up, the poor boy was trembling.”

The poor boy. The image of Jaehwan’s scowl when Sanghyuk had stopped him from leaving was stuck at the forefront of the mafia boss’s mind. He really was a pretty little thing. Sanghyuk had noticed the trembling too, of course, but he thought it was due to anger rather than fear.

His hand had fit perfectly around the hacker’s waist, it was no wider than a piece of printer paper. He wondered what Jaehwan would look like under him, without any of his label-whore garbage on. He wondered if Jaehwan would whimper, what Sanghyuk’s name would sound like on his rose-colored lips.

“I want him,” he said simply, looking from one of his friends to the other and steepling his fingers under his chin. “And, I will have him.”

**Chapter 2: The Realization**   
**Summary:**

**Sanghyuk sighed. He really hoped Jaehwan had just fainted, not died.**

  
  
**Notes:**

**So, the main thing I changed in this story is that I wrote Jaehwan a year younger than Sanghyuk. The age range of the other members is true to life. (Fake maknae becomes real maknae)**

_ The Realization: _

Lee Hongbin sat curled on the white leather sofa in his living room, mindlessly flipping through channels on their huge TV. He could have been playing videogames, but it was already one in the morning and Jaehwan still hadn’t returned from his meeting. Hongbin was worried he wouldn’t hear his boyfriend arrive if he had his headphones on.

The reasoning behind why Jaehwan had agreed to meet a stranger in the middle of the night to accept a job that was most likely illegal was unfathomable to Hongbin. Why did Jaehwan always insist on doing such rash and risky things?! He didn’t need any more stress in his life! Regardless of how he hated it, though, Hongbin did his best not to start fights over things like this. No matter how much he wanted to just lock his boyfriend in their apartment and force him to rest, it wasn’t Hongbin’s place to question Jaehwan’s actions, and he knew that.

“That smug bastard had me followed!” Jaehwan’s voice shouted, as the door to their apartment flew open with a _crash_.

“I’m going to claw his eyes out with my bare fucking hands next time I see him!” he continued, as he stomped into the living room. Hongbin had started at the sudden explosion of noise in their previously quiet home. He accidentally dropped the TV remote and the battery compartment popped open, sending the batteries themselves rolling across the floor.

“Baby! Slow down! Who followed you!?” Hongbin exclaimed, coming to his senses and jumping off the couch. His boyfriend was clutching his leather jacket in one hand, the sleeves dragging across the hardwood floor as Jaehwan began to pace. He was literally shaking with indignation.

“Han Sang fucking Hyuk! My _client_! He had someone tail me all the way home, as if he didn’t already know where we live!” Jaehwan continued to shout. Hongbin stared at his boyfriend in a state of complete incredulity.

“That baby politician who’s always on tv? Why would he want to meet a coder at 10:30 on a Wednesday? Why would he need a coder at all?” he asked, but Jaehwan didn’t seem to be listening.

“I’m going to straight up murder Seokjin when I get my hands on him! I told him before that I was finished working for crime families after that favor I did for your Jung friend! The stupid asshole tried to threaten- “

“Hey! Hey! Breathe for me baby,” Hongbin cut in, hurrying over and wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. With their chests flush together, Hongbin could faintly feel Jaehwan’s fluttering heartbeat.

Jaehwan was shaking so violently that Hongbin was worried he would have a fit. Or pass out. Both options were equally possible with his boyfriend’s current state. “Now, please calmly tell me what you mean by crime family, and someone following you.”

After several shuddering breaths, Jaehwan had regained the ability to speak without yelling. “Do you remember a few years ago, my darling and wonderful Hongbin, when you offered a free favor from me as a bet during one of your poker games?” he asked, his voice almost a whisper.

Hongbin felt his boyfriends’ eyes staring daggers through the side of his head as he looked away. “Yes, and I have apologized profusely for-“ he began to reply, but Jaehwan cut him off.

“And do you remember how you, the world fucking poker champion, drank yourself senseless and proceeded to lose to your friend Jung Taekwoon?” Hongbin nodded, still avoiding his boyfriend’s glare. He decided just to keep his mouth shut so he wouldn’t accidentally get himself in trouble.

“And, how he used my favor, not as a sexual favor like I had hoped because the man is a _stunner_ ,” Hongbin finally turned back to give Jaehwan an exasperated look, but Jaehwan wasn’t fazed as he continued, “And instead, he had me hack into the security system of the Han families mansion so he and his buddies could break in and steal a bunch of shit without getting caught? I told you that was going to come back and bite me in the ass one day, and that day appears to have come.”

A few moments of silence later, Jaehwan explained, “The Han family runs like the mafia here in Seoul, as well as Busan and Daegu. They own basically everything and everyone. Why your friend thought robbing them was a good idea is lost on me, but the head bitch in charge is the client I met with tonight. He somehow knows that I’m sick, and he knows I’m the one who helped Taekwoon. When I turned down his proposal, he threatened to hurt you. He gave me a day to reconsider and had one of his lackies follow me home.”

Hongbin felt like he had turned into a statue. His arms were still securely wrapped around Jaehwan, and he didn’t think he could have let his boyfriend go if he wanted too. “So… so you’re saying that this- this crime boss that I and everyone else on the planet thinks is just an overachieving kid-politician, he- he found you out and is now trying to hire you?” Hongbin clarified, measuring each word.

Jaehwan nodded slowly, all of his anger from moments ago had distilled into pure fear. “I have to accept. I managed a dramatic storm out tonight and he let me go. Otherwise he would have just kept me there. I’m going to try and negotiate, but ultimately I have no choice.”

Without any warning, Jaehwan cupped Hongbin’s cheeks in both hands and pressed their lips together. The gentle kiss pulled Hongbin out of his shock, his arms tightened around Jaehwan’s waist without any conscious effort on his part.

This was the exact kind of thing that Hongbin always worried about. That Jaehwan would get himself stuck in a dangerous situation with no way to get out. He knew asking his boyfriend to refuse this client wouldn’t work, it had never worked in the past, but he decided to try anyway. “Baby, please just say no. You don’t have to let this crazy guy bully you into-”

“I can’t say no! He knows who you are! He knows threatening my life wouldn’t work since I’m sick, so he’s going to go after you instead! I won’t make you a target because I’m too scared to do a job!”

“Let’s just run then. We’re both loaded, what’s the point of having money if we can’t use it to stay safe?! Let’s just pack up and go. Tonight.”

“You’re an internet celebrity, Binnie, we can’t just hide! You’ll be recognized! And I already told you, they’re everywhere! If we run, I have absolutely no doubt that Han Sanghyuk will hunt me down and kill me on principle.”

“We can go abroad, to London or Paris, somewhere he won’t be able to find- “

“No! I’m not spending the rest of my life in hiding. And I won’t put you through that.”

_The rest of his short life_ is what Jaehwan wanted to say, Hongbin knew. He felt a crack form through the center of his heart, splitting it in two. Jaehwan was his everything, his entire world. The thought of what he would do when Jaehwan was gone always left him breathless with panic.

Jaehwan was kissing him fervently once more, their mouths hot against each other. A sudden rush of furious longing ran through Hongbin’s body like a wave, but he was so distraught. The idea of losing Jaehwan. His Jaehwan. His one and only, remarkable Jaehwan.

“I’m so- so scared, Binnie. It’s too much and there’s _nothing_ I can do,” Jaehwan whimpered, the words stabbing straight into Hongbin’s broken heart. He felt Jaehwan go limp in his arms. He had used all of his energy being angry, and now it felt like Jaehwan had nothing left. Not even to stand on his own.

Hongbin held him up, carrying his weight for him. Supporting him physically to try and make up for the times he couldn’t support him at all. He walked slowly backward and collapsed onto the couch, pulling Jaehwan down with him and holding him on his lap.

The kiss was turning into something deeper. Jaehwan’s lips felt almost frantic, his hand coming up to curl loosely in Hongbin’s hair.

“Help me, Binnie. Fuck me until I forget,” Jaehwan said pleadingly, and Hongbin couldn’t refuse. He had loved Jaehwan too deeply and for too long to even contemplate saying no. He would give Jaehwan the moon if he asked for it.

\---

Hongbin nuzzled one of Jaehwan’s hands and closed his eyes, kissing his palm. He brushed his lips lightly across the pads of each of his fingertips, committing their texture to memory. He never knew if this time would be their last time. He savored it.

Jaehwan shifted, swaying unsteadily as he did so, trying his best to stand up unaided so he could shimmy out of his black jeans. The buckle of his belt hit the wood floor with a _clatter_ , and Hongbin held tight to his hands as he kicked his pants weakly to the side.

“Baby, why aren’t you wearing underwear?” Hongbin groaned, helping Jaehwan settle back down so one leg was braced on either side of him, straddling him.

“It makes me feel confident,” Jaehwan whispered, the beginnings of a smile curving at the corners of his mouth. Hongbin moaned softly under his breath, feeling Jaehwan’s hand slip under the waistband of his sweatpants and slowly start to pump his already half-hard cock.

Their lips connected in a kiss that verged on filthy. Open mouthed. Hongbin cupped his boyfriend’s ass with both hands, marveling, as he always did, at the softness of Jaehwan’s skin. He squeezed gently, a quiet whine escaping Jaehwan’s lips as he moved his hand faster.

Jaehwan slid his free hand under Hongbin’s shirt, running the tips of his fingers across the firm muscles of his stomach, up over his broad chest, before breaking their kiss and yanking the shirt off over Hongbin’s head.

“Tell me how you want it, baby,” Hongbin hissed out between his shallow breaths. He was fully hard now, and his brain was screaming at him to _hurry the fuck up_.

Jaehwan slumped against him a little, resting his chin on Hongbin’s shoulder as he continued his methodical strokes. “Hard. Make me lose my mind,” Jaehwan replied softly, mouthing the side of his boyfriend’s neck and sucking gently on his skin.

Hongbin growled quietly, putting a hand on the underside of each of Jaehwan’s thighs as he hoisted him up. Jaehwan’s long legs wrapped around his waist, his tongue running over Hongbin’s collarbone as he was carried down the hall to their bedroom.

Once inside, Hongbin dropped his boyfriend rather unceremoniously on their bed. He groped around the nightstand drawer for a moment before finally finding the bottle of lube. He slicked up three of his fingers, Jaehwan watching with hungry eyes for a few seconds before making to pull off his oversized turtleneck.

“Leave it on, it’s cute,” Hongbin purred, crawling onto the bed and placing a firm hand on Jaehwan’s hip, pinning him to the mattress before sliding one finger into Jaehwan’s entrance.

Jaehwan whimpered, knotting his hands in his own blonde locks as Hongbin began to thrust his finger in and out, building a rhythm. Stretching him open.

The first finger was shortly joined by a second, then a third, until Jaehwan was a sweaty, wriggling mess. His lips red and swollen from biting them, his cheeks flushed. Hongbin nuzzled the underside of Jaehwan’s jaw, sucking and nipping at his sensitive spot just below his ear, leaving dark red hickeys in his wake.

“Please- _please_ , Binnie, I need you,” Jaehwan whined, using his last bit of energy to try and rock himself further onto his boyfriends’ fingers, but Hongbin held him still.

Hongbin slowly, gently, pulled his fingers out. He hastily rolled Jaehwan onto his stomach, nudged his legs further apart, and pushed himself in as deeply as he could. Jaehwan yelped, fisting the fabric of their blue bedspread and pressing his cheek against it. Hongbin waited as patiently as he could, sliding his hands under Jaehwan’s sweater to hold his tiny waist in place, giving Jaehwan time to adjust until he heard a murmured, “Move.”

Not wasting another precious second, Hongbin pulled back almost all the way and then snapped his hips forward, earning a gasp followed by a high-pitched moan. Jaehwan was always so responsive to him, Hongbin drank in his boyfriends’ sweet cries as he began to thrust in earnest.

_This is what heaven feels like_ , Jaehwan thought vaguely, as his already dizzy mind was clouded with sheer ecstasy. He licked his lips, basking in the mixture of pleasure and pain as Hongbin fucked into him, fast and hard. Just like he asked.

The feeling of Jaehwan’s warmth around Hongbin pushed thoughts of anything else right to the back of his mind. His boyfriend was so incredibly tight. After a few minutes of bliss, Hongbin sat up on his knees, pulling Jaehwan up and cradling him against his chest. He wrapped an arm around Jaehwan’s middle and rested the other on his hip, tracing Jaehwan’s v-line with one finger and listening to his sobs.

Jaehwan’s sweater was hiked up under his arms. Hongbin’s hot breath on the nape of his neck, the feeling of his mouth sucking roughly on his skin just over the edge of his turtleneck. The sharp _snap_ of Hongbin’s hips as he thrust. All of it suddenly became too much.

Jaehwan came untouched, brokenly sobbing something that sounded like _oh Binnie fuck- fuck yes fuck!_ His vision blurred, cock so hard it almost hurt, a splatter of white dirtying his stomach and the bottom of his sweater. Watching Jaehwan fall apart sent Hongbin over the edge. He came deep inside Jaehwan, panting heavily as he rode out the heady rush of pleasure.

Hongbin pulled out gently, oh so _gently_ , catching Jaehwan as he slumped forwards, to stop him falling flat on his face before lowering him slowly down to the mattress. Hongbin slid off the bed and stumbled into their bathroom, wetting a towel with warm water before returning to Jaehwan and cleaning him up. He pulled off Jaehwan’s now filthy turtleneck and tossed it in the general direction of their laundry hamper as he collapsed on his back next to his boyfriend,

“God, I could never leave you, Binnie, what would I do without that dick,” Jaehwan muttered, chuckling weakly and rolling onto his side to drape and arm over Hongbin’s bare chest. The latter glanced over in surprise, asking softly, “Were you planning on leaving me?”

“Not _leaving_ you, leaving. But when I take the job I have to stay at that crazy mansion until it’s over,” Jaehwan replied in a whisper. His eyelids fluttered, blissed out and on the edge of sleep.

Hongbin’s heart stopped beating for what felt like a full minute. How had he missed that extremely important detail in Jaehwan’s explanation?! This couldn’t be happening, Jaehwan could die at pretty much any second. What if something happened while he was working and Hongbin wasn’t there?! He would never forgive himself. Ever.

After a seemingly infinite stretch of silence, Jaehwan mumbled, “Don’t worry, Binnie. They have a doctor. A doctor with tattoos.” And with that, Jaehwan fell deeply asleep.

\---

_“Jesus fucking Christ, Kong, it’s like… three in the morning! What the hell to you want?”_

“I need help,” Hongbin replied quietly. He was sitting on the bathroom floor, his phone pressed close to his mouth so he could whisper without waking Jaehwan.

_“What’s wrong? Are you ok? Is Jaehwan hurt?”_ Taekwoon asked, his normally soft voice a bit gravely from sleep.

“We are both fine, for right now. I need you to tell me everything you know about Han Sanghyuk,” Hongbin replied, bracing himself for questions or protests, but none came. Taekwoon sighed thoughtfully before he spoke again.

_“He’s the boss of the local Mafia. Surprisingly young for someone with a job of such importance, I think he’s around Jaehwan’s age. He took command after his uncle died in fluke training accident, which is a load of bullshit in my opinion. He’s a devious little shit. I’ve only met him face to face once, a few years ago, but he’s a tall guy, even taller than he looks on TV._ _He likes to play at politics as a hobby, but I’ve heard that he’s a violent and manipulate asshole behind closed doors. Why are you asking about him?”_

Hongbin’s already racing heart fluttered anxiously. “Because, he offered Jaehwan a job and my idiot of a boyfriend is going to take it. He’s so scared, Taekwoon!”

_“Hongbin, you need to convince him to change his mind. Nothing good will come from this, no matter how much money Sanghyuk’s offering him.”_

“I tried, but he wouldn’t listen to me. I need to ask you for a favor.”

\---

Hongbin was making coffee. It was only 7 AM, but he had barely slept a wink. Too restless. Too many thoughts swirling around his head.

He had finally given up the attempt ten minutes ago, smoothly freeing himself from the naked tangle of limbs that was Jaehwan and leaving him in bed, snuffling and murmuring something about dragons with his eyes still tightly shut.

Hongbin hadn’t bothered putting a shirt on and was stumbling around the kitchen in a pair of old basketball shorts. Jaehwan always jacked he heater up since he got cold so easily, and this morning was no different. The penthouse was sweltering.

The quiet _click_ of the front door lock turning snapped Hongbin out of his sleep deprived stupor instantly. Nobody had a key to their place, not even his or Jaehwan’s parents! Was someone breaking in?!

“Right this way, sir,” Hongbin heard the familiar voice of the building’s manager say from the hall. He was a nosy man, always turning up in unexpected places and butting in where he didn’t belong. Hongbin didn’t care for him.

“This isn’t a fucking model unit, you can’t just come in and give someone a tour of our- “ Hongbin said angrily as he stomped out of the kitchen. When he reached the entry hall, he stopped dead, choking on the rest of his complaint.

Taekwoon was right, Han Sanghyuk was much taller than he looked on TV. He was standing just over the threshold in a navy-blue suit, his hand resting on the elbow of a sun-kissed man in green, as if Sanghyuk was guiding him. Hongbin could see two other guys in the hall, probably body guards, but all of his attention was on Han Sanghyuk.

“Get the fuck out, your trespassing,” Hongbin snarled, trying his best to sound menacing despite his rising anxiety levels.

Sanghyuk laughed. Actually, it was more of a chuckle, but the sound set Hongbin’s teeth on edge. Of course, this guy wouldn’t care about trespassing! He was the head of the fucking mafia!

“I actually own this building, so think of this as an inspection. You must be the gamer,” Sanghyuk replied easily, holding his hand out for Hongbin to shake.

“My name is Han Sanghyuk, and this is my associate, Cha Hakyeon.” Hongbin didn’t move. He didn’t want to lay a finger on this criminal.

“Why are you here?” Hongbin asked, crossing his arms and suddenly realizing how he must look. No shirt, his long hair knotted up in a bun. Hickey’s across his neck and chest. Especially unimpressive when compared to the ostentatiously dressed man in front of him.

“No particular reason, I just wanted to check up on my future investment. You know, making sure he didn’t decide to die before he could do his job,” Sanghyuk replied absently. He craned his neck, peering over Hongbin’s shoulder as he asked, “Where is he?”

Hongbin narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward. The image of Jaehwan, naked under the covers, his long legs sprawled out and hugging a pillow, swam to the forefront of Hongbin’s mind. This man would not see Jaehwan like that. It was _only_ for Hongbin.

“He’s out, you just missed him,” Hongbin lied, but Sanghyuk chuckled again. “I know he’s here. If he had left, my men would have seen him.”

Sanghyuk released the other man’s arm, making to walk further into the penthouse, but Hongbin jumped in front of him, blocking his way.

Just like that, the two bodyguards grabbed Hongbin, shoving him against the wall and stopping him from trying to kick Sanghyuk. That probably wasn’t the smartest decision, given who Sanghyuk was, but Hongbin was past the point of caring.

“Hakyeon, please keep an eye on this one while I go speak to my investment,” Sanghyuk said smoothly, ignoring Hongbin’s curses as he walked down the hall towards the bedroom. 

\---

Sanghyuk was having a very entertaining morning so far. The gamers shouted protests were just a buzz in Sanghyuk’s ears as he stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall. Every other door he passed was ajar but this one, and he inhaled and then exhaled before cracking it open.

“Binnie? What’s all that noise?” a sleepy voice asked. Sanghyuk could just see the top of a blonde head poking out from under a heap of blankets. He stepped further into the room and shut the door behind him, not taking his eyes of Jaehwan as he replied, “Not your Binnie.”

Jaehwan sat bolt upright, the comforter sliding down to pool in his lap. His bare torso was exposed, hair sticking up every which way, the morning light spilling through the windows making his pale skin glimmer. He would be a vision of perfection if he didn’t look so terrified.

“What are- how did you get in here?! The security,” Jaehwan babbled, pulling the blanket back up and holding it against his chest. Sanghyuk smiled, taking another step forward, and he watched Jaehwan scrabble backwards, so his back was pressed against the headboard.

“I told your gamer boy already, I own this building. I can come and go as I please,” Sanghyuk replied. He kept moving forwards until he reached the foot of Jaehwan’s bed, watching the hacker tremble. Sanghyuk could still hear Hongbin swearing furiously, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wished that Hakyeon would punch the gamer in the throat to get him to shut up.

Sanghyuk shrugged his suit-jacket off, laying it on the side of the bed before kneeling on the mattress, crawling slowly towards Jaehwan until his hands were braced on either side of the hackers’ slim frame.

“So, how is my investment feeling this morning?” Sanghyuk asked. His face was only a few inches from Jaehwan’s now, he could feel the heat from Jaehwan’s shallow breath against his lips.

“You- you said I had time,” Jaehwan panted, ignoring Sanghyuk’s question as his eyes darting all around the room. Sanghyuk chuckled softly, and he couldn’t tell if Jaehwan’s shaking was from panic or a shiver like he wanted.

“I gave you time. You still have until midnight, but I told you I would be in touch,” Sanghyuk replied, tilting his head down to nuzzle Jaehwan’s jaw.

Jaehwan whimpered softly, tugging the blanket further up his chest. The sound was like music to Sanghyuk’s ears. He leaned down a little more and pressed his lips against one of the several red marks dusting the hackers’ neck, sucking gently on the tender spot.

Sanghyuk felt Jaehwan’s sharp intake of breath, before the hacker whined quietly and slumped forwards, his head resting on Sanghyuk’s shoulder and clearly unconscious.

Sanghyuk sighed. He really hoped Jaehwan had just fainted, not died.

**Chapter 3: The Decision**   
**Summary:**

**“I would never tell you to run, it would be such a waste of talent. Hiding in the dark when you could be out in the world turning it upside down. It’s not your fault that your body betrays you occasionally. And there are ways to work around even that.”**

  
  


_ The Decision: _

Jaehwan woke slowly, basking in the comforting and familiar warmth of his bed. He was lying cradled in Hongbin’s arms, his eyes still shut as he sighed contentedly. A cool cloth was dabbing at his forehead, and he weakly swatted it away before rolling in place and smiling, wrapping his arms around Hongbin’s waist.

The stiff cotton of Hongbin’s shirt rubbed against his cheek, and he nibbled playfully on a small button he felt brush his lips. He vaguely wondered why Hongbin was wearing a button down, maybe he had an appointment this morning that Jaehwan had forgotten about.

“If you wanted me to take my shirt off you could have just asked,” a voice said from above him. The voice was warm, almost a tenor, and northing like Hongbin’s sharp baritone.

Jaehwan’s eyes flew open. He hadn’t been dreaming, this was really happening! Han Sanghyuk was actually in his room!

The first thought that struck Jaehwan was that he wasn’t wearing clothes. He glanced down for a brief second to make sure he was covered by a blanket, which he was, _thank god_ , before exhaling in relief. The second was that Sanghyuk was in his bed, reclining against the headboard and gently holding him between his legs. The third thing, almost more troubling than the first two, was that Jaehwan couldn’t hear or see Hongbin anywhere nearby.

“Why the fuck are you in my bed?! Where’s Hongbin?!” Jaehwan exclaimed, trying to sit up. A wave of dizziness hit him so hard it left him breathless, and Sanghyuk’s strong hands were on his shoulders, pulling him back down before he got very far. Jaehwan squeezed his eyes shut, not even bothering to stop Sanghyuk from dabbing at his forehead once more.

“Uhm, you passed out while I was trying to talk to you. It would be pretty inconvenient for me if you died, so I’m taking care of you. Your gamer boy is with my friend Hakyeon, you met him last night,” Sanghyuk replied. He pressed the washcloth against Jaehwan’s temple as the headrush slowly faded.

Hakyeon must be Mr. Cha, the graceful man who escorted Jaehwan to and from Sanghyuk’s office. At least it sounded like Hongbin had calmed down, Jaehwan faintly remembered hearing him shout. Very slowly, Jaehwan tried sitting up again. “Why is it so hot in here? I feel like I’m in the fiery depths of hell,” Sanghyuk asked, watching the hacker’s movements closely.

“That’s where you belong, and I get cold easily. Will you please _get out_ of my penthouse?” Jaehwan snapped as he wrapped the bedspread more securely around his waist. Sanghyuk huffed out a laugh, and Jaehwan glanced sideways to see him grinning, the top few buttons of his shirt undone, an arm folded behind his head.

“By the way, do you cosplay? I saw a wig in your closet,” Sanghyuk asked, ignoring Jaehwan’s request. “I cross-dress occasionally if I’m bored, now _fuck off_!” After a few moments of silence, during which Sanghyuk neither responded nor made a move to leave, Jaehwan exclaimed, “You said I could have time to think, so let me think!”

“Ah, but I wanted to make sure that you were thinking about the right things,” Sanghyuk replied calmly. His easy smile dropped away and was replaced with a rather serious expression.

“I know your gamer boy probably tried to convince you not to accept my proposal, because he’s _worried_ about you. Because you’re so _weak_ and _frail_. Because he doesn’t think you’re strong enough to be on your own. I bet he tried to get you to run away.”

Jaehwan’s temper spiked, those accusations touched a nerve and not just because they were true. He glared ferociously at the criminal next to him, and Sanghyuk paused for a moment to let his words sink in before continuing, “But, from all that I’ve heard, and the little of you I’ve seen, I don’t think you’re weak at all. From what I can tell, you’re _feisty_ , strong willed. Smart as a whip, too, which always helps.”

“I would never tell you to run, it would be such a waste of talent. Hiding in the dark when you could be out in the world turning it upside down. It’s not your fault that your body betrays you occasionally. And there are ways to work around that.”

Sanghyuk sat up straighter, picking up Jaehwan’s Rolex from where it sat on the bedside table. Hongbin must have taken it off him last night after he fell asleep. He read the inscription and then held it in front of Jaehwan’s face, voice cool as he said, “This is a joke. You don’t have all the time in the world, you know your days are numbered. Are you happy to spend the rest of your life cowering and waiting to die? I bet that’s what your gamer boy wants, using your safety as an excuse to tie you down. That’s not how I operate. I live each day like it’s my last, trying to leave as big a mark on this planet as I can.”

He dropped the watch back on the table, leaning into Jaehwan’s space to smooth the damp cloth across the hacker’s brow. “Think about it. Think of what we could do if we combined our strengths, we would be _unstoppable_.”

“You don’t want a partner, you want to make a good investment. Knock off you mind-trick bullshit. It’s _not_ going to work,” Jaehwan said sharply, smacking Sanghyuk’s hand away, but the criminal leaned in closer.

“Who says I don’t want a partner?” Sanghyuk purred, sitting up on his knees and angling his body so that Jaehwan fell back onto the foot of the bed trying to avoid him. Jaehwan’s heart was pounding, fast and loud against the inside of his ribcage. It was a wonder the sound wasn’t echoing off the walls.

The criminal’s hands were pressing into the mattress on either side of Jaehwan’s head, and Jaehwan stared up into Sanghyuk’s dark, intense eyes as he continued, “You _know_ I’m right, you just don’t want to admit it. Don’t let fear of the unknown rule your life, Jaehwan. You’re too smart for that.”

Without another word, Sanghyuk rolled smoothly off the bed, grabbing his suit-jacket and walking towards the bedroom door. When it opened, Hongbin’s angry voice exclaimed, “Fucking _finally_!” just as Jaehwan whimpered, “You’re going to kill me.”

\---

As soon as he saw the bedroom door open, Hongbin’s mind went blank. He briefly saw Jaehwan lying upside down on their bed, still not wearing anything despite the fact that the criminal had been in there for over half an hour and he had ample time to get dressed. Before he could rationalize that, Sanghyuk appeared, walking casually down the hall. His shirt was unbuttoned, the barest hint of sweat glistening on his forehead as he slid his arms through the sleeves of his suit-jacket. This looked like something. Something bad. Hongbin refused to let himself contemplate what it looked like. Yet.

He had stopped trying to free himself from the thugs detaining him after only a few minutes, knowing it was useless, but he bared his teeth at Sanghyuk when he walked past.

“Remind Jaehwan that I expect an answer by midnight. He can contact me through Kim Seokjin,” Sanghyuk said, dropping a washcloth at Hongbin’s feet before strolling out the front door.

The bodyguards let Hongbin go, hurrying after the criminal. Hakyeon, who had been keeping up a constant steam of chatter the entire time, flashed Hongbin a brilliant smile and said, “See you soon,” before following the guards and shutting the door.

Hongbin took a single deep breath, glaring at the front door, before whirling on his heels and stomping down the hall to the bedroom. Jaehwan hadn’t moved, lying on his back with his hands over his eyes and breathing heavily, not even glancing up as Hongbin entered their bedroom. The sheets and blankets were in a messy heap, pillows arranged very differently than how they were this morning, and Hongbin didn’t stop to think before he exclaimed, “Did you fuck him?!”

That got Jaehwan’s attention. He dropped his hands and tilted his head back, staring at Hongbin with an expression of clear confusion. “Did you?” Hongbin snapped, the words tasting like acid on his tongue.

“No! Why would you even ask me that?” Jaehwan replied, propping himself up on one arm. The blanket around his waist shifted, exposing the side of his bare thigh, and Hongbin glared at it as he hissed, “Well, let’s see. You’re naked, our bed is a mess, the guy just walked out putting his clothes back on, and you two were alone in here for a _really_ long time!”

“Binnie, I didn’t,” Jaehwan started to say, but Hongbin interrupted, “All of our rooms are soundproof from the outside, how am I supposed to know what happened?” Jaehwan’s eyes narrowed. “I fainted because I was scared and overwhelmed and alone with a criminal. He took care of me.”

That gave Hongbin pause, but he was talking again before he could stop himself. “Why didn’t he come get me? I know how to care for you properly! And why were his clothes fucked up?”

“I don’t know why he didn’t get you, Hongbin, I was unconscious. He took his jacket off because it’s warm in here,” Jaehwan replied coolly, reaching down to wrap the blanket back around his waist again before shakily standing up.

“I knew getting involved with him was a bad idea! We should have left last night like I said! You’re in no condition to deal with this kind of stress! What did he say to you?” Hongbin exclaimed angrily, crossing his arms as he watched Jaehwan walked past him around the bed. The white blanket was dragging on the floor behind him, reminding Hongbin irresistibly of the train on a wedding dress.

“Nothing important,” Jaehwan replied icily. By this point, Hongbin knew he was lying, something must have happened. His boyfriend wouldn’t sound so defensive otherwise, and he wouldn’t be walking away. Jaehwan never shied away from difficult discussions unless he was caught in a lie. “If he wasn’t talking, did he touch you?” Hongbin nearly shouted. Lack of sleep combined with frustration had left him breathless with anger.

Jaehwan had reached the bathroom door, but he turned halfway around to scowl at Hongbin with so much furry that Hongbin actually took a step back. One of his hands trailed absently across a hickey under his jaw. He looked like an avenging angel, his blond hair haloed in sunlight and eyes sparking with indignation.

“ _Yes_ ,” Jaehwan hissed, dropping the blanket and letting it pool around his feet before stepping lightly into the bathroom and locking the door behind him, leaving Hongbin staring open-mouthed. Alone.

\---

“As your doctor, I feel morally obligated to tell you to put that out,” Wonshik said, shutting the oak door of Sanghyuk’s office behind him.

Sanghyuk chuckled, turning from his open window to watch his friend walk carefully around the blood staining his office carpet. “What happened there?” Wonshik asked, taking the pack of cigarettes from Sanghyuk’s outstretched hand and lighting one. He was such a hypocrite.

“One of my pharmacists tried to short change me for the third time in a row,” Sanghyuk said. “Drug dealers,” Wonshik corrected, blowing a puff of grey smoke out the window. “So, how was your other meeting this morning?” he continued, turning to lean against the windowsill.

Sanghyuk sighed, thinking back to how soft Jaehwan’s skin was against his lips. How his breath stuttered every time Sanghyuk got close. How easily their bodies fit together. Jaehwan’s arms around his waist. There was something about the hacker. Something indefinable. Something that made Sanghyuk want him so, _so_ badly.

“The two of you didn’t seem to get along last night, what with you threatening to kill his boyfriend and all,” Wonshik added, interrupting Sanghyuk’s daydream.

“We get along fine. It went rather well, I think. If nothing else, I got to see him without all that Gucci trash on. He truly is lovely,” Sanghyuk replied, taking a final drag on his cigarette and tossing the butt out the window.

He pulled another one from the pack, put it to his lips, and stared at the small flame of his Zippo lighter as it ignited. Jaehwan, naked in his lap. His golden hair tickling Sanghyuk’s chin. The single drop of water rolling down his forehead where Sanghyuk held the washcloth.

“It can’t have gone that well if you’re chain smoking. You only do that when you’re stressed,” Wonshik said softly. His friend knew him too well, Sanghyuk was stressed, for more reasons than just Jaehwan.

They stood quietly for a moment, smoking and feeling the cool autumn breeze from the open window. The gamer was a problem. Sanghyuk had underestimated him. He and Hongbin would probably get along if the circumstances were different, but as it was, Jaehwan would most likely be hesitant to leave their little domestic love nest. Sanghyuk hoped he had said enough to plant a seed of doubt in Jaehwan’s mind.

“His boyfriend is your type, hot tempered and handsome. He tried to kick me,” Sanghyuk said with a grin, nudging Wonshik’s shoulder. “Jaehwan seemed hot tempered too. I wonder what their dynamic is like,” the doctor replied, tapping his cigarette on the edge of the window sill. A bit of ash was swept up by the wind as a thoughtful expression crossed his face.

“I can tell you, and I haven’t even seen them in the same room,” Sanghyuk said, glancing at his friend. “The gamer has a knight-in-shining-armor complex. He thinks of Jaehwan as a sick little boy that needs protecting, wants to keep him safe from all the evil in the world. I know for a fact that Jaehwan likes being babied and responds positively to dominant behavior. He probably melts for Hongbin, loves the attention.”

Wonshik shifted in place, running a hand through his hair and tossing his cigarette before lighting a new one. “Ok. Jaehwan is good looking, I get that, but you already employ a hacker. Why do you need another one? Seokjin is good at what he does.”

“Not good enough. He’s the one who put Jaehwan and I in touch. I showed Seokjin my plan and he said he couldn’t do it. I _need_ Jaehwan,” Sanghyuk replied. He felt Wonshik’s eyes on him but didn’t turn around. Apparently, Seokjin and Jaehwan were old friends, and Jaehwan was the first person Seokjin recommended. He had warned Sanghyuk that Jaehwan would be wary of taking the job but was positive that he could do what Sanghyuk wanted.

“Is this the right time for me to ask you, for the millionth time, what your secret plan is?” Wonshik asked as Sanghyuk lit his third cigarette of the morning. “No,” Sanghyuk said sharply, and he saw the doctor flinch out of the corner of his eye.

The way Jaehwan collapsed into him when he lost consciousness, feeling like a doll as Sanghyuk laid him down on the bed. His little whimpers and whines, so sweet to Sanghyuk’s ears. How the furrow in his brow smoothed when he was content, believing himself to be safe in the gamers embrace.

The sound of the office door opening made both Sanghyuk and Wonshik jump, and they tossed their cigarettes out the window a second before Hakyeon walked in. He wasn’t fooled though and gave them both a very disappointed look.

“You’re a fucking doctor, Wonshik, don’t encourage your patients to smoke. You’re both complete idiots, do you want lung cancer that badly?” he snapped, folding his arms across his chest and tapping his foot.

“Sorry, mom,” Sanghyuk and Wonshik chorused, and the doctor closed the window as Sanghyuk asked, “You didn’t just come in to scold us, did you?”

“No,” Hakyeon sighed, coming over and placing a tablet on Sanghyuk’s desk. “Your nerd left his penthouse. The tracker you had installed on his car shows that he’s driving towards Gangnam.”

Sanghyuk hurried over and picked up the tablet, watching the little blue dot that was Jaehwan cross the bridge over the Han river. “His boyfriend didn’t go with him, according to the agent you have on watch. That seems out of character, given how he acted this morning,” Hakyeon added, giving Wonshik a concerned look that Sanghyuk didn’t see. He was too absorbed in staring at the map.

“Did you say he could leave?” Hakyeon continued. “I didn’t tell him to do anything, he’s not on house arrest,” Sanghyuk replied, still looking at the tablet screen.

“Where do you think he’s going?” Wonshik asked from his spot by the window. Sanghyuk laughed lightly, taking a seat at his desk as he replied, “Seokjin’s office.”

\---

Kim Seokjin, Jaehwan’s pre-Hongbin boyfriend and all-time best friend, had an office in the heart of the Gangnam district, an office that Jaehwan had just pulled up in front of.

Once he had taken a much-needed shower, Jaehwan had endured over an hour of Hongbin’s ranting before forcing him into the game room to blow off some steam. Then, Jaehwan covered himself in Dior from head to toe and put his Rolex back on before quietly sneaking out of the penthouse. Seokjin was as much of a label whore as Jaehwan, he would appreciate it.

He had stopped at Starbucks (Hongbin wouldn’t let him have any coffee since he was worried it might overstimulate him and make him faint again) and then Jaehwan had made the long and traffic-filled drive across town. Now, he held his steaming venti white mocha in one hand as he tossed his keys to the valet, instructing him to keep it close by since he wouldn’t be staying long, and walked purposefully inside the tall office building.

“Do you have an appointment with Mr. Kim?” the very cheerful secretary asked, her ponytail swishing from side to side as she flipped through what Jaehwan assumed was a schedule on her computer.

“No, I don’t. Tell him Beyoncé is here, he’s probably expecting me,” Jaehwan replied, ignoring the strange look she gave him and taking a seat to wait. He smiled to himself a moment later when he heard the secretary open a glass door and say, “Sir, a man calling himself Beyoncé is here to see you? He doesn’t have an appointment.”

A loud shriek came from inside the office, and Jaehwan stood back up just in time to catch Seokjin in an almost ferociously affectionate hug.

“I need to talk to you, it’s important,” Jaehwan said firmly, pulling Seokjin back into his office and closing the door behind him. “Jaehwanie! You look amazing! I’m stealing that shirt,” Seokjin replied, as they both sat on a plush grey sofa across from the desk.

“You can have it, I don’t give a shit and I’m not here to catch up, even if it has been forever since I saw you in person,” Jaehwan said, crossing his legs at the knee and taking a sip of his coffee before getting straight to the point.

“Why the fuck did you set me up to meet Han Sanghyuk? And how do you even know him? I told you I wanted nothing more to do with his kind of people! I only met him like twelve hours ago and he’s already making my life hell!”

“I work for him; didn’t he tell you?” Seokjin replied, switching effortlessly from playful to businesslike. “I’m his... companies... go-to coder. He gave me the Japan job first, but it’s too complicated for me and the only person I know who’s skilled enough to do it is you.”

“Japan?” Jaehwan asked, and Seokjin hastily added, “You know, the server in Japan he wants to hack into.”

That was NOT what Jaehwan had been expecting. “He said the server was just outside of town!” he exclaimed, standing back up and starting to pace, either out of anger or anxiety. He wasn’t sure which emotion was stronger at the moment. “Technically, Japan _is_ outside of town. But it’s not like you haven’t worked internationally before,” Seokjin replied, grabbing Jaehwan’s coffee and stealing a sip.

“Yeah I know but I’ve never done an international job for a fucking mafia boss!” Jaehwan grumbled. He abruptly stopped pacing and spun to glare at Seokjin as he asked, “What does Joonie think about you working for Sanghyuk?”

“My lovey dovey hubby wubby doesn’t give a shit about it, if I’m honest. He knows I can handle myself. Why, did Hongbin say something?” Jaehwan almost gagged at Seokjin’s sugary words, but he soldiered on.

“Saying something would be an understatement. I may have come home from my meeting upset and a bit scared last night, and since then he has been freaking out nonstop. Sanghyuk essentially breaking into my penthouse this morning didn’t help either.”

“Well, Hongbin _does_ have a bit of a temper when it comes to your safety and well-being. Sanghyuk has never shown up at my house though,” Seokjin replied, stealing another sip of Jaehwan’s coffee and looking distinctly pouty.

“Tell me everything you know about him. Personally, professionally, anything you have that’s useful,” Jaehwan said sharply, snatching his Starbucks cup from Seokjin and collapsing back on the couch.

Face lighting up at the prospect of gossip, Seokjin leaned in a little. “Well he’s dangerous, that’s the first thing that comes to mind whenever I see him. He’s also a well-known playboy and can charm the pants off literally anyone.”

“He’s very loyal though and takes good care of his people. Have you met Hakyeon yet?” Jaehwan nodded, waving for him to continue. “Ok, so once when I was visiting the mansion, the three of us were walking to Sanghyuk’s office when one of the scary guards made a rude comment about Hakyeon’s tan skin. Sanghyuk heard it and sent us on ahead, but I found out later that he fired the guard on the spot and had him kicked out of the mansion.”

Jaehwan mulled that story over, trying to reconcile it with the cold, manipulative bitch of a man that he had met only twelve hours previously. It wasn’t too hard to imagine, actually. Sanghyuk had been gentle and caring when he fainted this morning.

“Hakyeon is his best friend, more like an older brother, and that doctor I asked him to introduce you too is a close second. I’m not sure if any of that is useful, but that’s pretty much all I know. He’s generally nice to me and pays really well, otherwise I wouldn’t have set you up to work for him,” Seokjin finished, folding his hands in his lap.

“He threatened to hurt Hongbin if I didn’t take the job,” Jaehwan said, the thought filled him with something akin to righteous indignation. “He’s the leader of a fucking crime family, what did you expect? Threatening loved ones and stealing shit is kind of their bread and butter,” Seokjin snapped impatiently. “Bottom line is that he’s, not a good person exactly, but he’s fair, and once you’re in his circle, he’ll watch out for you.”

\---

“Hurry up! I don’t know when he’s going to get home,” Hongbin said anxiously, glancing quickly from the entry hall to Taekwoon’s silver hair and back again.

“Chill out, I’m almost done. I still say this is a terrible idea,” Taekwoon replied, grabbing a screw driver before he started to reattach the back of Jaehwan’s computer monitor.

“I don’t care. He’s going to accept the job, I can feel it. He’s been pissed at me ever since the stupid asshole left this morning. I want to know where he will be staying, and he will most definitely take his equipment with him,” Hongbin said coldly, glaring at the back of his friends head.

“So, you think bugging his computer is the best way to go about that? Instead of, like, offering to drop him off like a normal person? I’ve been to the mansion, I could have taken you there!”

“Anyway, you know he builds and subsequently fixes all his computers. He’s going to notice the chip I added the second he takes the cover off and you’ll be in deep shit,” Taekwoon continued, standing the monitor back on its base and giving Hongbin a look that could only be described as filthy.

“He’ll probably just think Sanghyuk did it, it’s not too out of character considering he broke into our fucking apartment. And this way, I can hear what they say to each other and I’ll know if something happens to Jaehwan. I’m not making the mistake of letting myself be left out again,” Hongbin replied, momentarily peeking out of Jaehwan’s office.

Taekwoon sighed dramatically, putting his tools in his backpack and standing up straight. “It may not be out of character for a criminal but spying on your boyfriend is _very_ out of character for you!”

It was very out of character for him, Hongbin knew. He didn’t enjoy invading Jaehwan’s privacy like this, but he honestly didn’t know what else to do! After spending less than an hour alone with Sanghyuk, Jaehwan’s whole attitude had changed. Jaehwan never lied to Hongbin, and he certainly didn’t just duck out of the apartment without saying where he was going! He knew Hongbin would worry, what if something happened while he was out and Hongbin wasn’t able to find him!

“Dude, did you do coke before I got here or something? You seem really off,” Taekwoon said, walking up and inspecting Hongbin’s face. “I had a lot of coffee, now fuck off before Jaehwan gets home and catches us,” Hongbin snapped, turning to pull his friend into the hall.

“A thank you would be nice,” Taekwoon grumbled, letting himself be dragged out by the arm. The sound of the front door opening made them both freeze in their tracks.

“Baby?” Hongbin called, just as Jaehwan stuck his head around the corner. “Hey,” he replied, hanging his coat in the entry hall closet before coming over and wrapping his arms around Hongbin’s neck.

“Where did you go? I didn’t hear you leave?” Hongbin asked, resting a hand gently on Jaehwan’s lower back and cupping his face with the other. “I was worried.”

Hongbin let himself be pulled into a soft, loving kiss. Jaehwan’s lips tasted like coffee, and Hongbin sniffled a little, irritated that Jaehwan hadn’t listened to his warning about stimulants so soon after he had an episode.

“I had to go shout and Seokjinie. And you! I have a bone to pick with you,” Jaehwan said, turning in Hongbin’s arms to glare at Taekwoon.

Taekwoon held his hands up, feigning innocence as Jaehwan continued angrily, “This is your fault! If you hadn’t decided to rob the fucking mafia, Binnie wouldn’t be in danger! Sanghyuk knows I’m the one who helped you! Why are you even here? Don’t you have a bank to be breaking into or something?”

“That’s rich coming from you, considering breaking into a bank is what got you your reputation,” Taekwoon muttered, crossing his arms and staring at the ceiling. “I didn’t take anything! I just wanted to see if I could do it, it’s not the same thing,” Jaehwan snapped, letting Hongbin back hug him.

Hongbin always marveled at the speed Jaehwan could switch from sweetness to anger. Jaehwan had relaxed in his arms and let his head drop back on to Hongbin’s shoulder, looking up as he asked, “Why is he here?”

“Gaming,” Taekwoon lied before Hongbin got the chance. “I beat him so badly it was almost shameful.” Hongbin sighed and rolled his eyes, pretending that it was true. If they really had been gaming, Taekwoon would have never beaten him.

“I hope you didn’t bet this time, I refuse to do you another favor,” Jaehwan said, suddenly sounding a bit tired as he nuzzled the juncture between Hongbin’s shoulder and neck. “We did actually, your loser boyfriend owes me 200 bucks,” Taekwoon replied good-naturedly.

Hongbin glared at his friend, but for the sake of keeping up with their cover story he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and flipped it open against Jaehwan’s stomach, taking two crisp $100 bills and handing them over. It was a small price to pay for peace of mind.

Once Taekwoon had left the apartment, Jaehwan changed out of his fancy black shirt and into an old hoodie. He looked so cute and cuddly that Hongbin couldn’t resist dragging him into their bedroom. “Nap with me, baby,” Hongbin said softly, falling back onto the mattress and pulling Jaehwan down with him.

“You’re such a goof,” Jaehwan replied happily, pressing his lips against Hongbin’s sternum. It seemed like Jaehwan had put this morning’s argument out of his mind, and Hongbin was glad for it. He wanted to spend as much quality time with his boyfriend as he could before his inevitable departure. Any guilt about bugging Jaehwan’s computer was pushed safely to the back of his mind where it couldn’t disturb him.

\---

_“Hello?”_

_“Hey, it’s Seokjin, I have a message for you from Lee Jaehwan.”_

_“Oh good, it's about time,”_ Sanghyuk said, propping his feet up on his desk. He glanced at his watch, seeing that it was 11:58. _“You’re cutting it a little close to the deadline, did you get too distracted to call me after he came to see you earlier?”_

_“He told me not to contact you until the last possible moment, but he accepted your proposal.”_

_“As you reassured me, he would. What else did the two of you discuss?”_ Sanghyuk replied, feeling the tiniest bit smug.

He made a thumbs up at Hakyeon, watching his friend whisper into a walkie talkie. After a listening for a moment, Hakyeon returned his thumbs up. The sniper aiming at Hongbin had been successfully called off.

_“Jaehwan didn’t stay for very long. He just whined about his boyfriend being over protective and wanted me to tell him what I knew about you.”_

_“You said nice things about me, right? I don’t want to scare him off again before he gets here.”_

_“I sang your praises, don’t worry. But, maybe don’t show up at his house unannounced again? It really seemed to piss him off.”_

_“Are you assuming that you have the right to tell me what to do?”_ Sanghyuk asked quietly, narrowing his eyes.

_“No, no of course not. Sorry.”_

_“Good, because you do not. Call him and tell him I will be coming by first thing tomorrow to pick him up so we can get shit started. And get a list of the equipment he needs.”_

_“I’ll tell him, but Jaehwan won’t use anything other than his own stuff. He builds his computers himself. You should bring a big car.”_

_“Fine,”_ Sanghyuk sighed, running a hand through his hair. _“Job well done, I’ll deposit your payment in your account tomorrow.”_

_“Thanks, good luck!”_

**Chapter 4: The Changes**   
**Summary:**

**“You’re a jackass, you know? I could die at basically any second, goodbyes are important!” Jaehwan said, his voice full of irritation. Sanghyuk grinned, glancing at the hacker nestled in the passenger seat of his car.**

_ The Changes: _

“For the last time, _please_ don’t do this,” Hongbin said desperately. He watched as Jaehwan bubble wrapped the monitor Taekwoon had tampered with, his mind racing with panic.

“Baby, what if something happens and you have another episode?! Or what if the police decide to raid their stupid compound and you can’t get out?! You’ll go to jail!”

Jaehwan stood up from where he was crouching on the floor, giving Hongbin a look that was a mix of exasperated and regretful as he replied, “Just stop, you’re making this harder than it has to be. I’ll only be gone for a week at most, and then we can spend the million dollars I earned to buy a yacht and take it to Monte Carlo for vacation or something.”

Hongbin sighed loudly, pulling Jaehwan away from his computers by the waist and hugging him as tightly as he could. “I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered into Jaehwan’s hair, trying to memorize his cedarwood and lavender smell.

“I don’t want to leave you either, babe, but I already took the job. It’s not like I won’t come back,” Jaehwan replied, leaning heavily on Hongbin and gently squeezing his shoulders.

“Now, I have to finish getting dressed, he’s going to be here soon,” Jaehwan said, trying to slip out of his boyfriends’ arms. Hongbin kept a hold of his wrist and let himself be pulled into their bedroom, only releasing him when Jaehwan started taking off his pajama shirt.

It felt like only seconds later that there was a knock on the door. Hongbin’s heart skipped a beat. All of this was happening too fast. His beautiful, intelligent, smart-mouthed Jaehwan was leaving. Leaving of his own accord, not being forcibly taken away the way Hongbin had always been mentally preparing for. He didn’t know how to even begin to process this.

“Can you get that? I need close my suitcase,” Jaehwan mumbled, slipping on a pair of very shiny black ankle boots. He was in a deep blue suit with a white turtleneck sweater, free of any labels or brand logos for a change. His blonde hair swept back, and the watch Hongbin gave him was clasped securely around his wrist along with several silver bangles. To Hongbin, Jaehwan looked like a prince from a fairytale.

Reluctantly, Hongbin left Jaehwan in their walk-in closet and made his way down the hall, trying to get his temper under control. He had dressed properly and actually brushed his almost shoulder-length hair this morning, not wanting to be caught looking like a homeless frat boy again, but his black sweater and plaid pants seemed woefully inadequate when he opened the front door.

Sanghyuk was in a crisp white button-down and black suit, a thin silver chain running from his breast pocket to his lapel and an emerald green tie, his black hair slicked back to accentuate his cheekbones. Hongbin hated him.

“Can we come in? My men are here to take Jaehwan’s equipment to the car if he’s ready,” Sanghyuk said, tilting his head a little and staring in a way that gave Hongbin chills. “Yeah, his stuff is all packed,” Hongbin replied coldly, spinning on his heels and walking back down the hall to Jaehwan’s office. Why did the guy have to dress like such a Slytherin?! He looked like a hot young Voldemort, and it pissed Hongbin off. And why did he have to be so huge?!

“Bring everything that’s wrapped up,” Hongbin said, gesturing to the now padded computers so the four bodyguards that followed him would know what to take. Seeing Jaehwan’s stuff packed was really kicking his anxiety into high gear.

The men had begun carrying the computers out of the office and presumably to the elevators, when Jaehwan stepped out of the bedroom. “I’m all set,” he said, his high voice sounding only the tiniest bit shaky. He was pulling his Louis Vuitton trunk style suitcase behind him and staring at his shoes.

“You look precious, but you can leave that bag here, you won’t need it,” Sanghyuk said, somehow coming to stand right behind Hongbin without him realizing it. Jaehwan looked up in surprise, and Hongbin whirled around to glare at the criminal as he continued, “I took the liberty of providing clothes for you already.”

“Yeah, I bet you did. Probably going to dress me up in Princess Leia’s slave bikini,” Jaehwan snapped, grabbing Hongbin’s hand as he stomped past Sanghyuk, suitcase still in toe. Hongbin grinned, ignoring Sanghyuk’s soft laugher and pulling Jaehwan closer to his side.

“So, what? Do I just follow you in my car?” Jaehwan asked, once the three in them reached the front door. Hongbin’s momentary joy evaporated, and he held Jaehwan against his chest as tightly as he could. “No, you’ll be driving with me,” Sanghyuk replied, as they got into the elevator. The criminal hadn’t stopped staring at Jaehwan, it was getting on Hongbin’s nerves.

Jaehwan rolled his eyes, wriggling a little in Hongbin’s arms as he murmured, “Babe, you’re wrinkling me,” but Hongbin ignored him. He wasn’t going to let his boyfriend go until the last possible moment. The three of them exited the elevator and walked out of the lobby to find Hakyeon bossing around the guy’s packing Jaehwan’s computers into a black Escalade that was parked out front.

Hongbin squeezed Jaehwan even tighter, staring at the SUV as Jaehwan’s belongings disappeared one by one. He was so focused on trying not to drag his boyfriend back upstairs and lock the door that he didn’t notice Sanghyuk step up and pull the suitcase from Jaehwan’s hand.

“I’ll miss you, babe. Promise me that you won’t cook, I don’t want you to set the building on fire,” Jaehwan said softly, turning in Hongbin’s arms and cupping his cheeks. “You- you be careful, ok? Call me every day, and- don’t overwork yourself. Don’t drink too much coffee and get as much sleep as you- go to the hospital immediately if you feel like you’re having an episode,” Hongbin stuttered.

Jaehwan was smiling fondly at him, but too many thoughts were swirling in his head for him to express them coherently. “Did you pack all your meds?” he asked, and Jaehwan nodded. “Good, ok, make sure you take them, and make sure you wait an hour afterwards before you eat anything.”

“And,” Hongbin tried to say, but the words died in his throat as Jaehwan pressed their lips together. If this was their last kiss, and _god_ Hongbin hoped it wasn’t, he was going to do it properly. He held the back of Jaehwan’s head with one hand, keeping the other around his waist, kissing him so deeply that Jaehwan’s breath hitched. Hongbin bent him backwards a bit, feeling Jaehwan’s back arch as he ran his fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck.

The kiss could have lasted seconds or hours, Hongbin wasn’t sure. He could have happily died in that moment, knowing the last thing he would feel was the comforting rhythm of Jaehwan’s heartbeat against his chest.

“Sorry to interrupt, but we have things to do. I’m not paying to watch you two make out,” Sanghyuk’s obnoxious voice said from somewhere nearby. Jaehwan hummed angrily against Hongbin’s lips, and he felt his boyfriend wobble a little as he kicked one leg in the criminal’s direction.

They broke apart, Jaehwan quickly kissing the tip of Hongbin’s nose before whispering in his ear, “I left a little present for you on the kitchen counter.” Then he was out of Hongbin’s arms, cold air rushing in to take the place of Jaehwan’s warm body. Sanghyuk had a hand around Jaehwan’s upper arm, the suitcase in the other, dragging them both in the direction of a matte black Aston Martin that was parked a few spaces away.

“I love you,” Hongbin called, watching as the love of his life was taken away from him. “I love you too, babe! Always!” Jaehwan replied, waving and blowing kisses with his free hand. Then, they were both in the car, the Escalade following Sanghyuk as both pulled away from the curb and drove off down the street.

After staring at the empty parking space for a full minute, Hongbin shook himself and made his way back up to the penthouse. He went straight to the kitchen and found what he guessed was the present Jaehwan had mentioned. He tore the pink wrapping paper off the small box, flipped it open, and stared blankly at the thin gold bracelet inside.

He took it from its crushed velvet nest, glancing at the sticky note underneath and read _‘a promise’_ in Jaehwan’s loopy scrawl, surrounded by lots of little hearts. There was an inscription on the inside of the bracelet, and his vision blurred a little as he read it. _‘My Binnie, for always’_

That was the last straw. Hongbin let the hot tears spill freely down his cheeks as he slipped the bracelet on, sinking to the floor of his kitchen and covering his face with both hands.

\---

“You’re a jackass, you know? I could die at basically any second, goodbyes are important!” Jaehwan said, his voice full of irritation. Sanghyuk grinned, glancing at the hacker nestled in the passenger seat of his car.

“Don’t be such a drama queen. Your gamer would have kept you there for the rest of your life if I hadn’t pulled you away. Plus, if you die on the job, I have no doubt he will find me and murder me, so you’ll be avenged,” Sanghyuk replied, chucking a little when Jaehwan sliced his neck with the side of his hand.

“Nobody is allowed to joke about my death other than me,” Jaehwan said sharply, and Sanghyuk forced himself to keep his eyes on the road. “Do you mind fast driving? I put a tracker on your car, and you drive like a grandma,” he said, smile widening at the indignant screech from the hacker.

“There was _traffic_! And I figured you were tracking me, you’re such a jackass,” Jaehwan exclaimed, sounding extremely disgruntled and smacking Sanghyuk’s leg. “You won’t have to worry about your illness killing you if you keep hitting me, because we will both die in a fiery car crash,” Sanghyuk said good naturedly, pressing the accelerator pedal so hard that Jaehwan shrieked and grabbed the door handle.

He shifted gears, weaving in and out of cars on the busy street and leaving the Escalade far behind. “You drive like a jackass!” Jaehwan exclaimed, pitching his voice a little higher than normal so it would be audible over the engines deep rumble.

“Please come up with a new insult,” Sanghyuk replied happily, taking a very sharp turn down a side street to avoid traffic. He knew the roads of Seoul like the back of his hand. “Fine! You drive like a drunk, blind dog that’s hopped up on cocaine! And you’re going to get a fucking ticket!”

Sanghyuk laughed loudly, making another sharp turn and veering onto the highway. “Nope, the cops know my car, they won’t pull me over,” he said, merging into the fast lane and gunning it. “The justice system at its finest,” Jaehwan grumbled next to him, turning on the radio, flipping to a rap station, and cranking the volume up.

\---

The drive to the mansion took roughly half the time it should have, thanks to Sanghyuk’s absurdly chaotic driving. The guy had a death wish, Jaehwan was convinced of that now. He had just turned through the open metal gates and sped down the gravel drive, coming to a dead stop inside a large garage that Jaehwan hadn’t noticed on his first visit.

“Let me drive that, and I could beat you in a street race,” Jaehwan snapped, straightening his hair in the Aston’s door mirror and pointing to a silver Porsche 911 that was parked a few yards away. “You wanna bet?” Sanghyuk asked, walking around the back of the car and taking Jaehwan’s suitcase out of the trunk.

“I could beat you in my car, but since I don’t have it, this will do. If I win, I get to keep it,” Jaehwan replied, going over and patting the hood of the Porsche. He had always loved cars, and it would look pretty in his garage. “How do you think I got all these? Binnie loses to me all the time on the track,” Jaehwan added, jangling his wrist full of bracelets in Sanghyuk’s direction as he peered in through the cars window.

“What do I get if I win?” the criminal asked, spinning Jaehwan around and putting a hand on his chest, holding him against the driver side door. Jaehwan’s heart fluttered, and he forgot to breathe for a few seconds. Sanghyuk’s hand was so warm, even through the several layers of clothing he had on. “You get to keep your car,” he finally managed to stutter, shoving Sanghyuk off him and walking quickly over to his suitcase.

“Thanks for waiting to pin me against the nearest available surface until my boyfriend was gone, jackass,” Jaehwan called over his shoulder as he started to pull his suitcase towards the mansion. “What, you don’t like being manhandled?” Sanghyuk asked, appearing at Jaehwan’s side and smirking as he rested a hand on the hacker’s lower back. Jaehwan did his best to ignore that, walking a bit faster as he snapped, “Not by you.”

“I’m surprised your gamer hasn’t locked you down officially yet, you’re such a sweetheart,” Sanghyuk taunted, leading Jaehwan up the front steps of the mansion and turning left down a long hallway. Jaehwan debated whether or not to reply, but he decided to be honest. “I won’t let him. No point in marrying me if I could die on our wedding night.”

After a few seconds of very charged silence, Sanghyuk changed the subject. “I need your phone, please. No offense, but any unauthorized communication is a security risk.”

“What the fuck do you mean, unauthorized?! You’re the boss, authorize it!” Jaehwan exclaimed, glaring up at the criminal as they stopped in front of a set of double doors. “No,” was all Sanghyuk replied, before reaching into Jaehwan’s back pocket and removed his phone, ignoring the hacker’s shouted protests and sliding it inside his jacket.

\---

Once he had gotten his crying under control, Hongbin made himself some cereal and called Taekwoon. His friend agreed to come over, and after hanging up, he dialed Seokjin’s number.

_“Hey, Hongbin, long time no… speak, I guess? What’s up?”_

_“Sorry to bug you, but I was wondering how Jaehwan seemed when you saw him yesterday?”_ Hongbin asked. He sounded about as jittery as he felt, but the fact that his boyfriend was gone had really sunk in at this point, and he needed to talk to someone who knew Jaehwan as well as he did.

_“Uhm, he looked great, but he was a little huffy. That’s understandable with his current job situation though, why?”_

_“Well, he left this morning and he hasn’t texted me in a few hours. I’m worried about him, you know? He’s so fragile, I don’t want him to stress himself out.”_

_“Hongbin, you need to relax. Jaehwan isn’t as fragile as you think he is. He’s a big boy and can look out for himself. Plus, Sanghyuk will take good care of him.”_

_“That’s another thing I’m worried about. The way Sanghyuk looks at him gets on my nerves,”_ Hongbin replied, thinking back to the little smirk on the criminals face as he walked out of their bedroom yesterday morning.

He heard Seokjin sigh before saying, _“He’s very charming, I know, but you really don’t have anything to worry about. He’ll probably take Jaehwan’s phone though, he always takes mine whenever I go to the mansion.”_

The glass of orange juice he was holding shattered seemingly of his own accord, and Hongbin didn’t realize he had broken it until he glanced down and saw his now empty hand balled into a fist.

_“You poor thing, do you want to come over tonight and have dinner with Joonie and I? We can get trashy drunk and binge some Netflix. You shouldn’t be all alone in that furnace of a penthouse when you’re so upset,”_ Seokjin said, his voice sounding very soothing. Hongbin had totally forgotten, he could turn the heater down with out Jaehwan here. He didn’t think he would though, ‘home’ and ‘hot’ were now synonymous to him. It would feel weird. Wrong.

Hongbin actually liked Seokjin a surprising amount, considering he used to fuck Jaehwan before he got married. And Hongbin like Seokjin’s husband, Namjoon, even more. _“Sure, that sounds nice. The two of you can sit around and watch me mope, it’ll be good couple bonding time,”_ he replied, and a tiny smile crossed his face when he heard Seokjin’s windshield wiper laugh.

_“Good, be at our place at six. I’ve got to go, I have a meeting, but stay strong, Bean! Jaehwanie wouldn’t want you to fall apart.”_

_“Thanks. See you later,”_ Hongbin said, and then hung up. He scooted away from the shards of broken glass littering one end of the couch and curled up on his side. TV now, cleaning later.

\---

“I thought you brought me here for a job, not a doctor’s visit,” Jaehwan grumbled mutinously. He was standing behind an old-fashioned privacy screen, changing into the hospital gown the doctor had handed him upon his and Sanghyuk’s arrival in the medical ward.

“I need you to be healthy to do that job. Blame Seokjin, it was his idea to have Wonshik look you over,” Sanghyuk’s voice replied from a few feet away.

“Your case is very interesting, I’m happy to do it,” the doctor added shyly, but Jaehwan snapped, “I’m not a fucking lab specimen! This is why I hate doctors, you’re all the same.”

He finished tying the laces at the back of his gown and stomped out from behind the screen, to find Sanghyuk and the doctor, who really wasn't dressed like a doctor, grinning at each other. “This is a waste of time; no doctor has ever been able to help me. I gave up on them a long time ago so why should you be any different?”

“Im very good,” the doctor replied, patting the examination table for Jaehwan to hop up. “He is, actually,” Sanghyuk added, stepping aside and leaning against a wall.

“And why are you even here? You’re not a medical professional, as far as I know! What happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?” Jaehwan asked, glaring at the criminal as he jumped up on the table, crossing his arms and sticking out his tongue.

The doctor laughed softly, muttering “cute” under his breath as he put on a stethoscope. That earned a glare from both Jaehwan and Sanghyuk, the latter of whom said firmly, “Stop behaving like a petulant child. Wonshik is going to try and lengthen your very short life expectancy, you should be thanking him, not whining.”

The metal of the stethoscope was icy against the bare skin of Jaehwan’s chest where the doctor slipped it under his gown, his breath escaping in a hiss. “My life expectancy doesn’t matter, everyone dies! I could grab that scalpel and stab you in the throat, then you would die regardless of how healthy you are!” Jaehwan replied, gesturing to a tray of thin blades and hissing again as the stethoscope moved around to his back.

“Please don’t to that. And stop lying! You make a bigger deal about your death than anyone,” Sanghyuk said, coming back over and bracing his hands on the observation table next to Jaehwan’s knee. “No, I don’t!” the hacker exclaimed, but Sanghyuk cut in before he could continue. “Why won’t you let your gamer boy marry you then? Do you just not want to?”

Jaehwan snapped his mouth shut, scowling at the criminal with all the force he could muster. He may not care overmuch that he was dying, but he knew Hongbin did. He wouldn’t put Hongbin through the pain of becoming a widower. His boyfriend already loved him too much to be free from grief but getting married would just make Jaehwan’s death extra unbearable for him.

The hacker chose not to reply, not being in the mood to divulge more about his and Hongbin’s relationship than he already had, and he began plucking at the fabric of the gown instead. A very bright light was suddenly being shined in his left eye, and Jaehwan was so surprised that he yelped and kicked a leg out in front of him. Unfortunately, the doctor caught his ankle before his foot made contact, and he lost his balance, nearly sliding off the table.

“A little warning next time!” Jaehwan huffed, ignoring the doctor’s hands under his arms as Wonshik gently lifted him back into a sitting position. “Your equilibrium is shit, but how’s your night vision?” Wonshik asked, waiting for Jaehwan to nod before shining the light in his other eye. “Binnie says I have eye’s like a cat, I can see pretty well in the dark. Why?”

“Your pupil dilation is ridiculous! Come look,” he replied, motioning Sanghyuk over and shining the light in Jaehwan’s left eye again. “Is _ridiculous_ a medical term?” Jaehwan asked, as the doctor covered one of his eyes with his palm. The hacker glared at the two men gaping at him with his uncovered eye, not enjoying being treated like a science experiment. After a minute, Wonshik took his hand away, making Jaehwan blink rapidly at the sudden brightness.

“Look, his eye is almost totally black! Normally, people need special eyedrops to achieve that level of dilation,” the doctor exclaimed, squinting at him and moving a bit closer. “You look like a demon!” Sanghyuk said with a laugh, grinning when Jaehwan reached out and karate chopped his neck.

“Cute,” the doctor mumbled, putting a hand under Jaehwan’s chin and opening his mouth, shining the light at the back of Jaehwan’s throat. “One more time, and I’ll find someone else to examine him. I won’t have you harassing my new employee,” Sanghyuk snapped, making Wonshik flinch.

“You have no right to tell him off, Mr. _don’t you like being manhandled_ ,” Jaehwan exclaimed once the doctor let him close him mouth. He put a hand on Wonshik’s forearm for balance as he kicked his leg out again, aiming for Sanghyuk this time. He missed, unfortunately.

“I need a blood sample,” Wonshik said, lifting Jaehwan gently off the examination table and setting him on his feet. “Why? Are you a vampire?” Jaehwan asked sarcastically, letting himself be led over to a tall chair next to a tray of syringes. “No but I want to check a few things,” the doctor replied, rubbing an alcohol swab across the inside of Jaehwan’s arm.

Jaehwan’s heart fluttered and he closed his eyes, trying to keep his breathing even. “I hate needles,” he muttered. “Do you want to hold my hand?” Sanghyuk’s voice asked from next to him, but Jaehwan shook his head very quickly, keeping his eyes squeezed shut and gripping the arm of the chair. His breath came out in a hiss when the needle pierced his arm. It stung, but there wasn’t as much pain as there normally was. The doctor had done a good job.

Against his better judgment, Jaehwan found himself liking Wonshik. He was kind and gentle, with a soothing deep voice, not poking and prodding too much the way another doctor may have. Jaehwan cracked one eye open, studiously avoiding looking at the needle. He didn’t protest when Wonshik’s free had rested on top of his, squeezing it gently, and the doctor smiled a little when Jaehwan let go of the chair and laced their fingers together, squeezing back.

\---

“Ok, it’s up and running. The mic is on and recording, so just hit this play button when you want to invade your boyfriend’s privacy,” Taekwoon said, handing Hongbin a tablet with buttons all across the screen. “Do you want me to hack his webcam too?” he asked sarcastically, yelping in a very overdramatic way when Hongbin smacked the side of his head.

Without hesitating, Hongbin pressed the play button and the game room filled with the sound of Jaehwan’s voice.

_“I told you, I can set up my equipment myself. I don’t need your help,”_ he was saying, his breath sounding a bit labored.

_“You heard Wonshik, he doesn’t want you lifting anything heavy so soon after getting blood drawn. Trust me, I’d rather not spend my day fetching and carrying for you. I have better things to do,”_ Sanghyuk’s voice replied. Why would Jaehwan have gotten his blood drawn?!

_“Then get Wonshik to help me! Go murder some poor innocent person, or whatever it is you normally do, jackass,”_ Jaehwan’s voice snapped.

_“Do you ever stop talking? I liked you better unconscious_ ,” Sanghyuk’s voice asked, followed by the sound of someone getting hit and the criminals low chuckle.

After a few seconds of staticky silence, Jaehwan’s voice said, _“Put that monitor over here… no, not there, here!”_ There was another smacking noise, and then what sounded like a scuffle to Hongbin. Jaehwan really had no sense of self-preservation if he was trying to bully the head of the mafia.

_“Why do you keep hitting me, little hacker?”_ Sanghyuk’s voice asked, his tone low and dangerous.

_“Because you’re irritating, get off,”_ Jaehwan replied sharply, followed by more scuffling sounds.

_“Really? It’s not just an excuse to touch me?”_

The sound of Jaehwan’s little whine was more than enough for Hongbin to imagine what was happening.

Hongbin hit the stop button and the room fell silent. He didn’t think he was capable of listening to more of this without screaming. They spoke so familiarly to each other, Hongbin hated it. “So, what are you going to do? That asshole is clearly all over your boy,” Taekwoon asked, taking the tablet from Hongbin’s hand and setting it on his desk chair.

“Shut up. I’m not going to do anything about it, I have to get ready for dinner at Seokjin’s,” Hongbin replied, trying not to sound as upset as he felt. He unconsciously ran a finger over his new bracelet, glaring at Taekwoon as his friend burst into laughter.

“You’re having dinner with Jaehwan’s ex?” he asked incredulously, still giggling as Hongbin pulled him towards the front door. “I liked you better when you didn’t talk so much,” Hongbin muttered, and then bit his lip. His words were too similar to Sanghyuk’s for his liking.

\---

“Why do you keep hitting me, little hacker?” Sanghyuk asked, making his voice low as he stared into Jaehwan’s eyes. Jaehwan had been following him around the workroom Sanghyuk provided for him, but upon being smacked for probably the millionth time today, Sanghyuk had grabbed his wrist and sat him down rather roughly on his new desk.

“Because you’re irritating, get off,” Jaehwan replied sharply, shoving Sanghyuk and sliding away. He only made it a step before the criminal grabbed him again and bent him over the desk, holding his wrists behind his back.

“Really? It’s not just an excuse to touch me?” he asked, but all he got in response was a quiet whine. He leaned down, tangling a hand in the hacker’s hair and tugging gently, before releasing him and stepping back.

Jaehwan didn’t move for a few seconds, but he was so wobbly that when he tried to stand up, he promptly sank to the floor. Sanghyuk watched him fold his long legs under himself, smoothing a hand down his front before he said quietly, “Seriously, you have got to stop doing that.”

“Why? Do you like it too much?” Sanghyuk asked, slowly kneeling down and stroking Jaehwan’s cheekbone with the back of his hand. “I- I don’t” the hacker stuttered, staring stubbornly at the floor but not pulling away from Sanghyuk’s touch.

“I love Binnie,” he continued shakily, and Sanghyuk felt himself go very still. Hongbin, everything was always about his precious Hongbin. Every other word out of the hacker’s mouth was Binnie. Binnie this, Binnie that. He had never said Sanghyuk’s name. Not once. Not when they met, not when they were in his bed together, not in the car. Never. Only _you_ or _jackass_. Sanghyuk wanted to hear his name spoken in Jaehwan’s high, musical voice so god damn badly that it physically _ached_.

“Let me try something,” Sanghyuk said quietly, managing to keep any emotion out of his voice and off his face. Slowly, almost _painfully_ slowly, he leaned in closer. Jaehwan still hadn’t pulled away but he was now staring blankly at Sanghyuk with his lips slightly parted.

He tilted Jaehwan’s head up a little, and before he could second guess himself, he leaned in all the way and pressed their lips together in a kiss that was almost chaste.

It was like no kiss Sanghyuk had ever experienced. Better. So much better than anything he had felt before in his entire life. It felt like an electric current was running between them. The hacker’s skin was silky smooth under his fingertips, and Jaehwan whimpered when Sanghyuk pulled away.

“Sanghyuk, I… I need you to leave. Please. I can finish setting this up myself, and- and you have things you need to do,” Jaehwan said after a moment, his eyes still closed and his breathing uneven. The criminals heart skipped several beats. Jaehwan had said his name, so his experiment worked, but the rest of his words… Sanghyuk couldn’t think of a single thing he had to do other than kiss the hacker again.

But he didn’t. He lowered his hand and stood back up, turning on his heels and leaving Jaehwan on the floor of his work room.

**Chapter 5: The Mistake**   
**Summary:**

**“Good morning, did you sleep ok?” the doctor asked, smiling sweetly at Jaehwan and turning off the tap. “As well as could be expected in a house full of criminals. Do you want me to take my clothes off again?” Jaehwan replied, as he started to remove his jacket. He had been deliberately trying to fluster the doctor, and he succeeded.**

_ The Mistake: _

Jaehwan wasn’t poor. He hadn’t grown up poor, either, his parents were actually fairly well off. But the wealth that seeped into every aspect of daily life at the mansion was like nothing he had ever experienced.

The butler that brought Jaehwan his breakfast in the morning. The closet full of hand tailored suites in Jaehwan’s guestroom, all made to Jaehwan’s exact measurements even though he had never told them to the criminal. The piece of monogrammed stationary embossed in gold leaf that was slipped under Jaehwan’s door to inform him where he would be expected and when. Jaehwan found all of it slightly overwhelming, like he was in a caricature of a five-star hotel. Sanghyuk lived well, to say the least.

Sanghyuk had never come back to check on Jaehwan yesterday, sending Hakyeon to eat dinner with him instead. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, Hakyeon was nice if a little prissy. He actually reminded Jaehwan a lot of Seokjin. But that kiss yesterday. That kiss was something. Something Jaehwan had to make sure didn’t happen again.

Jaehwan had finished setting up his workroom and unpacking his suitcase last night, but he sorely missed the comfort of his phone. It was like he had lost a limb. He also missed Hongbin. Missed him terribly. Last night was the first time he had slept alone in over two years, and the bed was very cold without Hongbin beside him.

His first task this morning was to report to the medical ward, and then go directly to Sanghyuk’s office afterwards to _finally_ get all the details about his new job. So, Jaehwan had finished breakfast and was now dressed in a grey sweater and black corduroys, paired with a nice, heavy coat he found in the closet. The mansion was freezing compared to his cozy penthouse, so the extra layer was an absolute necessity.

He wandered around the halls for a few minutes, until a guard took pity on him and escorted him to the medical ward. He knocked on the door and then entered, finding Wonshik washing his hands in a large industrial sink.

“Good morning, did you sleep ok?” the doctor asked, smiling sweetly at Jaehwan and turning off the tap. “As well as could be expected in a house full of criminals. Do you want me to take my clothes off again?” Jaehwan replied, as he started to remove his jacket. He had been deliberately trying to fluster the doctor, and he succeeded.

Wonshik shook his head very quickly, swallowing audibly and looking everywhere but at Jaehwan. “No, no it’s fine. Come and sit,” he said, patting the examination table and opening a cream-colored notebook. Jaehwan grinned, hopping up on the table and lying across it with an arm folded behind his head.

“You are really shy for a doctor, I didn’t think anyone in the entire field possessed modesty,” Jaehwan said, poking Wonshik’s cheek playfully as the doctor sat down on a rolling stool beside the table. “I don’t care about seeing naked people, it just wasn’t necessary,” Wonshik replied, clearing his throat in an attempt to regain his dignity and catching Jaehwan’s hand. He held the hacker’s wrist with two fingers, taking his pulse as he flipped through the pages of his notebook.

“So, let’s get right to the point. I’m sure you’re aware by now that your particular illness lives in your heart, right? Like, that’s where it originates, and then subsequently effects your blood as it circulates. That’s why a transfusion wouldn’t work, since your heart is the actual problem. And since your blood interacts with basically everything else, your body has been weakened to the point that a heart transplant would be unsuccessful. You would almost certainly die before it could be completed.” Jaehwan nodded. He had heard all of this a thousand times over, and this was the point where the conversation usually ended. Nobody could think of any solution other than a transplant.

“Well, I’ve been up pretty much all night analyzing the blood sample I took from you yesterday and noting its irregularities, and I would like to try something,” Wonshik said, releasing Jaehwan’s wrist and jotting something down in his notebook.

“I’m not,” Jaehwan started to say, turning to glare at the doctor, but he was interrupted. “I know, I know you’re not a lab specimen or a science experiment. But if you don’t give your options a try, you’ll never find a cure and you’ll never get better. Just hear me out. It’s nothing too crazy, and it might actually help.”

Jaehwan watched the doctor, automatically feeling suspicious, but Wonshik looked so sincere. He seemed to genuinely believe that he could help Jaehwan. A tiny flame of hope ignited inside the hacker, a flame that hadn’t been lit for many years. He prayed he wouldn’t be disappointed again, he didn’t know if he would be able to stand it.

“In essence, I want to give you a shot. I won’t bore you with the technical details but basically, I made a serum containing several things that should correct the abnormalities in your blood, and hopefully also start to fix whatever your heart’s problem is when the serum circulates. It won’t stay in your body for very long, only 72 hours, maybe. But if it works, you should start to feel the effects rather quickly and I can give you another one.”

“A shot? That’s it? Just a shot?!” Jaehwan asked incredulously, sitting up straight and swinging his legs over the edge of the table so he was looking at the doctor face to face. “That’s it,” Wonshik replied, grinning and patting Jaehwan’s knee. “Seriously?! All this time waiting, and I could have been cured just by getting a shot!” Jaehwan exclaimed, running a hand through his hair in disbelief.

“It’s not ordinary medicine that you could get a prescription for. Someone would have had to make it specially for you. It wasn’t all that easy and isn’t how doctors usually work. Since you’re the only person I know of that has this condition, there’s no way to test it, and most professionals wouldn’t go around injecting people with untested treatments. They don’t want to hurt their reputations. Also, it’s not a cure exactly, more something that will slow your symptoms until they eventually go away. Your body will revert back to this state if you stop taking it,” Wonshik said thoughtfully, glancing back down at his note book.

“That’s better than nothing! I don’t care if it’s untested, give it to me,” Jaehwan replied, hurriedly slipping and arm out of his jacket and beginning to roll up his sleeve. “Not there,” Wonshik said, standing up and walking over to a small refrigerator in the corner of the ward. “I want to inject it in your neck, so it spreads quicker.”

Jaehwan gulped, tugging on the collar of his turtleneck and suddenly feeling abnormally hot. He didn’t like needles when they were in his arm, so the thought of essentially being stabbed in the neck set his nerves on edge.

“Now, I can’t hold your hand this time, and you have to stay very, _very_ still. I’m going to inject it as close to the artery as I can, but I don’t want to accidentally nick it,” Wonshik continued, coming back over and holding a syringe of something that looked like blue Gatorade. Jaehwan’s eyelids fluttered. This wasn’t how he thought his morning was going to go.

The doctor stepped up in front of him, nudging his legs apart so he stood in between them. “Here, you can hold onto my shirt, so you have an anchor. Squeeze it as tightly as you need too, I don’t care about wrinkles, but don’t move,” Wonshik said, tilting Jaehwan’s head up. “It will be fine. Take a deep breath and hold it.”

Jaehwan shut his eyes, wrapping his fingers around the hem of Wonshik’s shirt and clinging on for dear life. The doctors hand wrapped gently around the back of his head, his body so close that Jaehwan could feel the heat rolling off him. “Ok, three… two… one.”

If felt like a bee had just stung Jaehwan, but he forced himself to stay still, squeezing the soft fabric of Wonshik’s shirt with all the strength he had. “Good, now slowly exhale,” the doctor said, his deep voice very soothing in Jaehwan’s ear. The hacker did as he was instructed, trying his best to ignore the building feeling of pressure under his skin.

Then, it was over. He felt a piece of gauze being pressed to his skin and opened his eyes to see Wonshik’s forehead about an inch from his face. “All done,” the doctor said, straightening up and holding the gauze against Jaehwan’s neck with the palm of his hand. “It didn’t hurt too much, did it? You did really well.”

“No, just a little pinch,” Jaehwan replied breathlessly, taking a band-aid that doctor was holding out and unwrapping it for him. “You may be a little sore, but other than that, you’re all set,” Wonshik said, removing the gauze and quickly smoothing the band-aid in its place.

Jaehwan was suddenly overwhelmed with gratitude towards this doctor. This man who didn’t know him, owed him nothing, but had made a medicine just for him to try and help him get better. He didn’t need to go to all this trouble, but he had. “Thank you,” Jaehwan said, pulling the doctor into a very tight hug. He was still sitting on the table but Wonshik hugged him back, chuckling and saying, “Cute,” under his breath as he picked Jaehwan up and carefully set him on his feet.

“Can you tell me how to get to the boss’s office? I’m supposed to go see him after I’m done here,” Jaehwan asked, unconsciously running his finger over his band-aid. “I’ll take you, he wanted me to come too,” Wonshik replied, putting a hand on Jaehwan’s shoulder and steering him towards the exit of the medical ward, before adding, “Don’t forget to tell me if you feel anything abnormal.”

\---

Han Sanghyuk was sitting on the windowsill in his office, smoking and trying to ignore Hakyeon’s grumbling from the other side of the room. His mind had been clouded with thoughts of his hacker ever since the little experiment yesterday afternoon. The sweet sensation of Jaehwan’s lips against his was all he could think about.

So, Jaehwan had a boyfriend. So what? Lots of Sanghyuk’s previous partners were in relationships, but they slept with him anyway because Sanghyuk was… Sanghyuk! Who wouldn’t want to sleep with him if they got the chance?! The gamer was no good for Jaehwan, he treated Jaehwan like a bird in a cage. He was too afraid to let go. Sanghyuk was who the hacker should be with, he would give Jaehwan freedom and a full life, no matter how short it ended up being. And with Jaehwan’s skills and Sanghyuk’s influence, they could take over the world.

“Darling, will you _please_ stop? It smells gross,” Hakyeon whined, waltzing around the office and spraying air freshener as he went. Sanghyuk continued to ignore him, staring out the window at the lawn below. The leaves on the oak trees lining the perimeter had all turned brown and fallen off, and he watched one of the gardeners rake them into a pile.

“Please?” Hakyeon repeated, coming to stand at Sanghyuk’s side and tapping his shoulder. The criminal grabbed his hand, taking another drag on his cigarette before asking, “Where he hell is Wonshik? I told him to be up here first thing this morning?”

Hakyeon freed himself, leaning down and kissing Sanghyuk’s cheek. The criminal smiled a little, resting his hand on Hakyeon’s narrow waist instead. “He wanted to meet with your nerd to talk about medical stuff. Did he not tell you?”

“No, he didn’t,” Sanghyuk snapped, putting the cigarette to his lips once more and glaring out the window. He didn’t like being left out of things, and he wanted to discuss his doctor’s behavior towards Jaehwan yesterday before they saw each other again. Wonshik’s attraction to him was so strong, Sanghyuk could almost taste it, and he didn’t like it one bit. He could have talked to Wonshik last night if he hadn’t hidden from everyone and worked himself to exhaustion after Jaehwan told him to leave.

He exhaled, watching the smoke dissipate in the cold autumn air outside before pulling Hakyeon down onto his lap and kissing him deeply. It was nice. His friend was warm, and their lips moved together with the practiced familiarity of two people that had been together for a very long time. But nice is all that it was. There wasn’t a magnetic pull drawing Sanghyuk to Hakyeon, not like Jaehwan.

Hakyeon pulled away after a few moments, popping a stick of gum in his mouth and grumbling, “You taste like an ashtray.” Sanghyuk began pressing kisses on his friend’s cheek, just to be annoying, and was rewarded with a smack on the chest. The criminal grinned, enjoying the momentary distraction until his office door opened.

Jaehwan and Wonshik walked in together, Wonshik’s hand on the hacker’s shoulder, and he was laughing softly as Jaehwan whispered in his ear. They looked like lovers after a tryst, and the sight made Sanghyuk’s blood boil.

Hakyeon had slipped away to perch on the corner of Sanghyuk’s desk as soon as the door began to open, but Sanghyuk was still in the window, and he took another drag on his cigarette, staring daggers at his two _employees_. “Did Wonshik give you a hickey you’re trying to hide?” Sanghyuk asked nastily, eyeing the band-aid on Jaehwan’s neck.

“No, I gave him a shot. And please don’t smoke around him, he doesn’t need any more chemical changes to his blood at the moment,” Wonshik replied, glancing momentarily at Sanghyuk before returning his attention to the hacker at his side. Jaehwan hadn’t even looked up.

“What kind of shot?” Sanghyuk asked, his voice sounding threatening even to his own ears as he tossed his cigarette and shut the window harder than he needed too. Wonshik flinched at the noise and Jaehwan glare across the room at the criminal, for no reason that Sanghyuk could fathom.

“Something he invented to try and make me better,” the hacker said sharply, nudging Wonshik a little and making him smile again. Sanghyuk approached them slowly, walking in a way that felt almost like a prowl, and tilted his head. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he asked, coming to stand directly in front of his friend and putting his hands in his pockets. Wonshik was so easily intimidated it was almost funny.

“I couldn’t find you, otherwise I would have,” the doctor replied, studiously avoiding Sanghyuk’s gaze. Before he could speak again, Jaehwan said, “Will you give me the run down of my assignment please? I want to get this over with so I can go home.” He stepped around Sanghyuk, pulling Wonshik over the leather couch and taking a seat.

“Fine,” Sanghyuk replied, continuing to glare at Wonshik as he took a seat in an armchair opposite them. Hakyeon came to stand behind him, and Sanghyuk reached up to absentmindedly play with his friends’ fingers.

“There is a man in Japan who has certain documents that I would like. They’re in a file stored on a private server outside Tokyo, and you are going to hack into it for me and help me retrieve them.” Jaehwan looked at him blankly. He actually seemed a bit let down.

“That’s all?” he asked, leaning back against the couch and crossing his arms. “I can do that in my sleep! Seokjin could do that in his sleep, why did he want me to do it?”

Sanghyuk paused for a moment. This is where things got tricky, and he wanted to make sure he explained exactly right. “This man is... protected, you see, and his security is very comprehensive. Digital and otherwise. I gave Seokjin the servers information and he took one look at it and backed out.”

“If he’s in Japan, who is he protected by?” Wonshik asked, speaking very slowly. He seemed to have caught on to the main issue before the other two. “The Japanese equivalent of us. Which is why-“

“The Yakuza?!” Jaehwan spluttered, jumping to his feet and staring down at Sanghyuk through wide, terrified eyes. “You want me to help you steal from the fucking Yakuza?!”

Sanghyuk nodded, keeping his expression completely devoid of any emotion. “Are you out of your god damn mind?! That’s as good as putting a hit out on both of us!” Jaehwan shouted, his voice so shrill that the criminal silently thanked god for his offices soundproofing.

“You helped Jung Taekwoon steal from me, why should this be a problem for you?” Sanghyuk replied evenly. “I regretted doing that as soon as I fucking did it! I don’t know why you didn’t kill me for it, thanks by the way, but the Yakuza scare the shit out of me! They will _not_ hesitate to come here and murder both of us, along with anyone else who happens to be around!”

Wonshik had completely frozen and Hakyeon’s fingertips were digging into Sanghyuk’s shoulder. This was the first time he had been open with either of them about his plan. “Can you do it or not?” Sanghyuk asked, pitching his voice low in contrast to Jaehwan’s shrieking. “If they have the kind of security that I think you’re implying, you’re going to need people on the inside to get your stupid file! I won’t be able to retrieve it remotely!” Jaehwan replied in a rush, spinning in place and running a hand through his hair.

“That’s already arranged. But can you get them to the server farm? Seokjin said that you’re the only person he knew that would be able too, and he was absolutely sure that you could,” Sanghyuk said. He watched Jaehwan spin back around, both hands on his hips and looking livid.

“Yes! I can do it, but I’m going to need to borrow your car first so I can go choke out my dickhead ex-boyfriend for recommending me for this job in the first fucking place!” Sanghyuk smiled, relieved that Seokjin’s faith in Jaehwan wasn’t misplaced. 

“Good, I’ll give you the server information and you can start writing code or whatever it is you do,” Sanghyuk said, but when he started to stand up, Jaehwan put both hands on his chest and shoved him back down. Even that momentary contact with the hacker was enough to give Sanghyuk chills.

“No!” Jaehwan exclaimed, standing over the criminal and glaring ferociously at him. “You are going to tell me everything, no more playing games! What kind of information am I risking my life to help you steal?!”

“You don’t need to know, it will have no effect on your ability to do your job,” Sanghyuk replied, successfully standing up this time so he could look his hacker in the eye. “Will it?”

“No, but-“ Jaehwan shouted, before seeming to choke on the rest of his words. He was breathing very shallowly, staring imploringly at Sanghyuk with his lips parted. His was flushed, color high on his cheeks, brow furrowed. Sanghyuk was absolutely positive he had never seen anything more beautiful in his entire life.

“Then there’s no problem,” Sanghyuk said, unable to stop himself from resting a hand on his hacker’s upper arm. Jaehwan’s eyes were darting all over the room, his breathing uneven, and he reached up to curl his fingers around his own throat.

Jaehwan turned, eye’s widening further as he looked down at the doctor still sitting on the couch. “Won- Wonshik,” he stuttered, and then collapsed.

Sanghyuk caught him before he hit the ground.

\---

The hangover Hongbin was currently experiencing was worse than anything he could remember. He wasn’t usually much of a drinker, aside from the occasional beer or glass of wine with dinner, and Seokjin had broken out the tequila before they made it to dessert.

He couldn’t even open his eyes, the light turning the insides of his eyelid’s orange was enough to piss off his already throbbing brain. Hongbin groaned, reaching around for a blanket and pulling it over his head. He couldn’t remember getting home last night. Actually, he couldn’t remember much of anything after his fifth shot. Jaehwan’s absence was like a physical hole in his heart, and he was perfectly happy to fill that hole with alcohol.

“Who poured nails into my head?” a high voice said from his left. “Probably the same person who threw up in my mouth,” a much deeper voice said from his right. Hongbin’s eyes flew open.

“Why the hell are you two here?” he exclaimed, wincing at his own volume and putting a hand on his temple. “Uh, this is our house. I think the better question is, why are you still here?” Namjoon replied as Hongbin forced himself to a sitting position.

“I think I know,” Seokjin said. He was lying on Hongbin’s left, peering at himself under the blanket and then glancing up at Hongbin. He reached out and lightly brushed the base of Hongbin’s throat before muttering, “Fuck,” and dropping his head back on the pillow they had apparently been sharing.

It took several seconds for Hongbin to realize that he wasn’t wearing anything, and when he looked to his left, he saw that Namjoon was shirtless. _Fuck_ was right.

“Did you invite me over and get me drunk just because you were looking for a third?” Hongbin hissed, scanning the room for his clothes and finding them on the floor next to the dresser. He pushed the blanket off himself and climbed over Seokjin, who whined and smacked his shoulder as he did, before grabbing his jeans and starting to put them on.

“No! I invited you over because I felt sorry for you, what with Jaehwanie leaving you and all,” Seokjin snapped, covering his face with his hands. “He didn’t leave me! He just- just left!” Hongbin hissed back, buttoning his jeans and bending to pick up his shirt.

“What’s the difference?” Namjoon asked, propping himself up and running a hand through his hair. Hongbin had one arm in his t-shirt when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, his breath hitching. His hair was knotted, face pasty, and dark circles under his eyes. Hickeys were dotted all over his neck and trailed down his chest. He had fucked up _big time_ , but his stupid brain was in no shape to try and process it right now. He glanced down at his wrist, and then spun around, exclaiming, “Where the fuck is my bracelet?”

“I don’t know, I’ll buy you a new one. And you still haven’t answered my question,” Namjoon replied, rolling out of bed and walking over to the closet to grab something to wear. “I don’t want a new one, help me find it,” Hongbin snapped, looking all around the floor, trying to spot a glimmer of gold.

“Is this it?” Seokjin asked, removing his hand from under the blanket, in his palm were three broken pieces of gold chain, the little flat section that bore the inscription was separated from the others in a way it was never supposed to be. Hongbin’s heart skipped a beat.

“Forever my… oh shit,” Seokjin said, holding the broken fragments of Jaehwan’s gift out for Hongbin to take. He grabbed them and slipped them into the front pocket of his jeans, before putting his t-shirt on and mumbling, “I have to tell him. I’m the _world’s worst boyfriend_ and I have to tell him.”

He found his keys on top of his jacket, picked up both, and turned to hurry out of the room. “No! Hongbin, wait! Hold on!” Seokjin exclaimed, wrapping the bedsheet around his waist and following him down the hall. It was painfully similar to how Jaehwan looked after Sanghyuk left their apartment, and Hongbin couldn’t stop the sob that clawed its way up his throat.

“You can’t tell him! Think of how fragile he is! It’ll kill him! And you were drunk, you weren’t responsible for your actions!” Seokjin said frantically, grabbing Hongbin’s arm before he could reach the front door. “Is that what you told him when he figured out you were sleeping around? That you were just drunk, and it wasn’t your fault?” Hongbin hissed, spinning around to glare at him.

Seokjin had the decency to look taken aback, but Hongbin continued, “He was gone for one day, Jinnie, _one fucking day_ , and I had what I just assume was a threesome with his best friend and his best friend’s husband. He gave me that bracelet when he left yesterday!”

“If you think he’s not fucking his new boss, then you’re deluding yourself,” Seokjin said nastily, putting the hand not holding up his sheet on his hip and cocking his head to the side. “What?” Hongbin asked blankly, completely derailed from his previous train of thought.

“Don’t be an idiot, you’ve met Sanghyuk! He’s handsome as sin and charming as the devil when he wants to be, and you said yourself that he was already eyeing Jaehwanie before he accepted the proposal! Jaehwanie was really curious about Sanghyuk’s personal life when he came to talk to me, it was almost painfully obvious that they’re sleeping together!”

“You told me I had nothing to worry about!” Hongbin exclaimed, but Seokjin gave him a look full of pity as he replied, “I was lying, I didn’t want you to get more upset than you already were.”

Hongbin’s aching mind instantly flashed back to Jaehwan standing in their bedroom, Hongbin asking if Sanghyuk touched him, and his hissed ‘yes’ before he locked himself in the bathroom. His heart was pounding. “Jaehwanie never could resist a pretty face,” Seokjin continued softly, pushing Hongbin’s hair off his forehead. 

“Don’t. I need to think,” Hongbin snapped, whirling back around and walking out of the house before Seokjin could stop him.

**Chapter 6: The Repercussions**   
**Summary:**

**“I feel like I just got struck by lightning!” Jaehwan said, his voice a bit raspy, before continuing to cough. Sanghyuk felt something similar, but he didn’t think the hacker was talking about the electric current running between their clasped hands.**

  
**Notes:**

**Enjoy a little Hyuken smut**

_ The Repercussions: _

“If you killed my hacker before he could do his job, Wonshik, I swear to _fucking_ god,” Sanghyuk growled, as he carried Jaehwan bridal-style down the staircase towards the medical ward, Hakyeon and the doctor close on his heels.

“You’re the one who got him all worked up! You and your fucking death wish,” Wonshik replied, sounding uncharacteristically angry. He held the door to the medical ward open for Sanghyuk, who carried Jaehwan inside and laid him gently on one of the sickbeds.

Jaehwan was breathing, faintly, so that was a good sign. He looked so serene in sleep, or unconsciousness, Sanghyuk thought as he knelt at the side of the bed. He brushed his thumb across Jaehwan’s cheekbone, slightly reassured by his skin’s warmth.

“What kind of shot did you give him anyway?” Sanghyuk snapped, turning away from Jaehwan and glaring at the doctor instead.

“What I gave him isn’t the problem. I can feel his heart beat is already getting stronger, so that means it working, but his body still can’t handle the amount of stress you just put him through. Will you move?” Wonshik said harshly, nudging Sanghyuk out of the way and sitting on the edge of the bed.

Reluctantly, Sanghyuk moved around to the head board, running his fingers through Jaehwan’s blonde locks as he whispered, “Please wake up.”

“He’s not sleeping beauty, and you’re not helping,” Wonshik snapped, flicking a syringe before pushing Jaehwan’s sleeve up and sticking it rather unceremoniously into the hacker’s arm. “I thought you said no more chemical changes to his blood!” Sanghyuk exclaimed.

“Yeah not from second hand smoke, you idiot. He should be coming around right… about…”

Jaehwan gasped, sitting bolt upright and almost knocking foreheads with Sanghyuk who had been looking at him upside down. He started to cough and grasped Sanghyuk’s outstretched hand without seeming to realize what he was doing.

“I feel like I just got struck by lightning!” Jaehwan said, his voice a bit raspy, before continuing to cough. Sanghyuk felt something similar, but he didn’t think the hacker was talking about the electric current running between their clasped hands.

“That was a hit of pure adrenaline, kind of like what’s used in Epi Pens. You should probably go run around the block,” Wonshik said, sounding very pleased with himself and making the hacker grin. “Wanna have that race now?” Jaehwan asked, sitting up on his knees and turning to Sanghyuk, bouncing on the mattress like an over excited toddler. It seemed that his brief foray into unconsciousness had made the hacker temporarily forget he was upset.

Sanghyuk’s smile felt like it was touching his ears, and he gave Jaehwan’s hand a little squeeze before replying, “I don’t want you to get in a car accident because you’re too hyped. Wait like an hour and then we can go.”

Jaehwan did the most adorable pout the criminal had ever seen, wiggling and whining and shaking Sanghyuk’s hand up and down for a moment, before his face lit up once more. He dropped Sanghyuk’s hand, _threw it_ was probably a more accurate description, before jumping off the bed and taking off at a run.

“Hey! Jaehwan, come back! I was kidding when I said you should run around the block! You need to relax and drink water!” Wonshik exclaimed, but Jaehwan was already out the door. “Did you shoot him up with liquid insanity?” Sanghyuk huffed, before pushing himself up and running after his hacker.

But _god damn_ , Jaehwan was quick! He was already half way down the hall that led to his workroom. Sanghyuk’s legs, however, were longer. He caught up to Jaehwan just as the hacker reached his door, circling his arms around the hacker’s middle to stop him from running away again.

Sanghyuk felt his phone vibrate but ignored it as Jaehwan started to giggle. “You are an absolute maniac!” he said, unable to hide his smile. “I just thought of something brilliant, I need to type it out right now!” Jaehwan fairly shouted in response, hopping up and down on the balls of his feet. Sanghyuk let him go, and Jaehwan threw his door open before jumping onto his desk chair so haphazardly that it toppled over.

“Will you calm down?! You’re going to hurt yourself!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, jogging over and setting the chair upright. He pulled Jaehwan up by the hand, before the hacker began to turn his monitors on. He opened a blank HTML window and started typing out strings of letters and symbols at a speed Sanghyuk thought could only be achieved by robots.

The criminals phone vibrated again, and he idly played with the collar of Jaehwan’s sweater as he pulled it out of his pocket. There were his usual business updates, which wasn’t surprising, but he had about a thousand missed texts from Seokjin for some reason. He clicked on the first and began to read.

**Computer Boy #1:**

_‘Ok so I know I’m not allowed to tell you what to do but PLEASE don’t let Jaehwan have his phone!’_

_‘I know you probably took it, and you should keep it! I don’t care how much he bugs you, seriously don’t give it to him.’_

_‘For the sake of his health’_

_‘And mine’_

_‘And maybe yours’_

_‘Just don’t give it to him, whatever you do!’_

_‘Please’_

_‘Actually, on second thought just keep him at the mansion until he dies. Never let him leave.’_

_‘And don’t let him use your phone or anyone else’s.’_

_‘AANDD IF Hongbin shows up, don’t let him speak to Jaehwanie this is of PARAMOUNT importance!’_

Sanghyuk was intrigued. He had been half considering giving Jaehwan back his phone as a gesture of good will, but why would Seokjin care?

**You:**

_‘Why shouldn’t he have his phone?’_

_‘And why should I stop him from talking to his boyfriend? It’s no concern of mine.’_

The little speech bubble that meant Seokjin was typing popped up almost instantly. Luckily, Jaehwan was too absorbed in whatever code he was writing to notice. Sanghyuk’s finger accidentally brushed Jaehwan’s skin, and he felt that familiar jolt in the pit of his stomach, just as Seokjin’s reply lit up his screen.

**Computer Boy #1:**

_‘Ah! Thank god you answered! I know you don’t care, but Hongbin really fucked up, and it was sort of my fault, but he’s so god damn honorable and stubborn that he’s going to tell Jaehwanie, and trust me, Jaehwanie DOES NOT need to hear it. Nothing good will come from it, and he will either kill both me and Hongbin or he’ll just die on the spot from shock!’_

_‘Please don’t give it to him!’_

_‘It will probably negatively affect his job performance if that’s any incentive for you’_

**You:**

_‘What did you do now, Seokjin?’_

_‘It honestly doesn’t matter, we were drunk, so it didn’t even count! Just don’t let him have his phone!’_

_‘Also, Hongbin may have somehow gotten the impression that you and Jaehwanie are sleeping together, so don’t let him in the compound or I genuinely believe he will try and kill you!’_

Sanghyuk chuckled. This situation could prove to be very amusing!

“Hey, Jae?” he asked, locking his phone and slipping it into his pocket. “What?” Jaehwan replied absently, still typing furiously. “How would you like to have your phone back? I’m pretty sure you aren’t a government spy or anything,” Sanghyuk said, grinning as Jaehwan turned in his chair and looked up at him.

“Can I? I’ve been dying without it!” he exclaimed, and Sanghyuk nodded, walking over to the closet and pressing a panel on the wall. A small hidden compartment popped open behind a stack of t-shirts, and Sanghyuk reached in and grabbed Jaehwan’s phone. He had put it in there to make sure he didn’t lose it, and also as an experiment to see if Jaehwan was curious enough to find the compartment on his own.

Jaehwan shrieked happily, easily catching his phone when the criminal tossed it to him and clutching it to his chest like it was his child. Sanghyuk came back and peered over Jaehwan’s shoulder, reading the _twelve missed calls_ from _‘Binnie Baby’_ that flashed up in his notifications. This should be good.

Sanghyuk stepped back, hoping the hacker would forget he was there as Jaehwan put the phone to his ear. Hearing one side of the conversation should be funny enough.

_“Hi babe, why are you spamming me?”_ Jaehwan asked, after a few beats of silence. Sanghyuk’s smile got wider.

_“What?! No, of course we aren’t!”_

_“We went over this a few days ago! Nothing is going on!”_

_“I promise! I thought this argument was over!”_

_“I’m not lying! I don’t lie to you!”_

_“No, I don’t!”_

_“You already are talking to me!”_

_“You’ll have to wait until I get home next week then, because I can’t leave right now,”_ Jaehwan said, turning in his chair again to glance back at Sanghyuk. The criminal winked, and Jaehwan rolled his eyes.

After a few more seconds of quiet, Sanghyuk clearly heard the gamer say _‘Fuck it’_ before continuing too softly for Sanghyuk to overhear. Jaehwan was still turned towards Sanghyuk, his eyes widened and got very unfocused as he listened to the gamer’s words.

_“You did WHAT?!”_ the hacker shouted, his voice so loud that Sanghyuk jumped.

_“You’re a complete and total piece of shit, Lee Hongbin! How could you!? And with him!? How could you do that to me? I was gone for ONE DAY, and you couldn’t keep it in your pants?!”_

Sanghyuk had to force himself not to laugh out loud. Seokjin wasn’t kidding when he said the gamer fucked up!

_“I don’t give a shit if you were drunk or not! Three fucking years and you decided to ruin it now!”_

_“Don’t bother apologizing and stop fucking crying!”_

_“No! I’m not coming home and I’m not talking about this anymore! Fucking sit and wallow in your self-hatred! We’re done! I’ll send some people over to pack up my stuff and I’ll find a new apartment. I never want to see you again.”_

And with that, Jaehwan hung up the phone and threw it on the floor. He tucked his legs against his chest, curling into a ball on his desk chair as he said shakily, “Sorry, that was unprofessional,” before bursting into tears.

\---

Sanghyuk was at Jaehwan’s side in a split second, taking one of the hackers’ hands in each of his and kneeling in front of him. The monitors cast white light across Jaehwan’s profile, draining him of the little color he had. His blonde hair sparkled silver.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Sanghyuk asked softly, watching the hot tears stream down Jaehwan’s cheeks. He felt simultaneously happy about the gamers mistake and sad to see his hacker this upset.

Jaehwan shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut and dropping his head on his knees. His body was wracked with silent sobs, and his breathing was shallow. He looked totally and completely heartbroken.

“I’m sorry,” the hacker whispered, lifting his face back up and running his hand through his hair as he stared at nothing, eyes still unfocused.

Unable to look at Jaehwan’s tearstained face for a second longer, Sanghyuk stood up, pulling the hacker into his arms and carrying him over to the couch in the corner of the workroom. He sat down and settled Jaehwan on his lap, stroking Jaehwan’s hair off his forehead and letting the hacker cry against his shoulder.

“Seriously, I ne-need to borrow your ca-car so I can go ch-choke out Seokjin,” Jaehwan mumbled, his words broken by sobs. Sanghyuk chuckled quietly and then bit his lip. The hackers’ body was trembling against him, and Sanghyuk couldn’t stop himself from pressing gentle kisses into Jaehwan’s hair and rubbing circles across his back.

“Unfortunately, I can’t let you run around and murder my employees,” Sanghyuk replied. Jaehwan choked out a laugh, but there was no humor in it. His arms snaked around the criminal’s neck, snuggling closer and sending Sanghyuk’s brain into overdrive. No, he wouldn’t do anything now. Not when Jaehwan was so upset. He wouldn’t take advantage of his heartbreak like that. He would just comfort his hacker, no matter how much he wanted to rip Jaehwan’s clothes off and fuck all thoughts of Hongbin out of his head. He wouldn’t do it.

“I never thought he- he was the type,” Jaehwan said, his words muffled by Sanghyuk’s shoulder. His hair tickled against Sanghyuk’s chin, and the criminal replied, “It’s always the ones you least expect.” He had no personal experience being cheated on, but he could imagine Jaehwan’s pain well enough to hate every fiber of Hongbin’s being. He made a mental note to shoot the gamer if he ever saw him again, his YouTube fans be damned.

“You don’t have to stay, I bet you have work to do. I’m a grown up, I can handle it by myself,” Jaehwan said, tilting his head up to look at Sanghyuk. The criminals heart stuttered, Jaehwan’s beautiful face was so sad. He may have said that Sanghyuk could go, but his eyes were begging the criminal to stay.

“I’ll go if you want me too, but I don’t mind sitting with you,” Sanghyuk replied, letting his thumb run up along the hacker’s spine and down again. “Thanks,” Jaehwan said, letting out a little sob and resting his forehead against the criminal’s cheek.

“I’m sorry for calling you a jackass, you aren’t that bad,” Jaehwan continued. “It’s fine, I am a jackass,” Sanghyuk replied, suppressing a twinge of guilt. Jaehwan’s sadness was partly his fault for deliberately giving him his phone, but the hacker would have found out eventually. It was better that he knew. Now he could move on.

“You’re right, you are,” Jaehwan said, a hint of a smile crossing his lips when Sanghyuk nuzzled his cheek. “Stop being sweet, it’s ruining your macho image.”

Sanghyuk grinned, dotting kisses all over Jaehwan’s pretty face until he felt the hacker’s fingers tangle in his hair. Then he froze. “I was going to talk to you... about yesterday,” Jaehwan said after a moment. “I was going to list all the reasons we couldn’t happen, but number one on that list just crossed himself off it.”

“You don’t have to do this now,” Sanghyuk started to say, but Jaehwan pressed a finger to the criminals’ lips, silencing him. Sanghyuk felt that jolt in the pit of his stomach again as he watched a faint blush start to spread across Jaehwan’s cheeks. “Did you feel… sparks?”

The feeling in his stomach changed, heating him up from the inside. “Yes,” he said, letting Jaehwan trace his mouth with one finger as he stared into the hacker’s chocolate brown eyes.

“Do it again,” Jaehwan murmured, palming Sanghyuk’s cheek, and the criminal was absolutely powerless to refuse.

The kiss started out as chaste as the first, just a light brush of lips. But it quickly changed into something fervent. Passionate. Their mouths moved against each other in perfect unison, Jaehwan’s hand knotting itself more firmly in Sanghyuk’s hair.

“What about now?” Jaehwan asked as they broke apart, his thick eyelashes fluttering. “Fucking fireworks,” Sanghyuk replied hoarsely, leaning in and pressing their lips together once more. It wasn’t a lie, the criminals whole body felt electrified.

Slowly, gently, Sanghyuk shifted to lay Jaehwan on his back, the hacker’s long legs dangling over the couch’s armrest. He knew this wasn’t real for Jaehwan, knew it was just a rebound, a way to try and deal with the heartbreak clearly etched in the lines of his brow. The wet trails left by the tears running down his beautiful face. But Sanghyuk didn’t care. He would take whatever he could get, even if it was just a fantasy.

He put a hand on Jaehwan’s hip, pressing him into the cushion as the kiss turned desperate. Lips parted and tongues toying together, the heat of Jaehwan’s slim body enveloping Sanghyuk like a blanket. Jaehwan’s soft little moan when the criminal nibbled his bottom lip. It was perfect.

They stayed like that, making out like horny teenagers, for what could have been days. Until, that is, the workroom door opened and Hakyeon walked in, closely followed by Wonshik. “I need to check on my patient, he’s,” Wonshik started to say, but both froze in the doorway when they realized they had interrupted.

“Get out and don’t come back,” Sanghyuk growled, lifting his head and giving his friends a look that could have melted steel. They quickly backed out of the room and closed the door, but the noise was just muffled buzzing in Sanghyuk’s ears.

“We should probably lock that,” Jaehwan said with a giggle, but Sanghyuk shook his head. He leaned down to kiss his hacker one more time before pushing himself up. “No, my room. Come here,” he replied, catching Jaehwan the instant he jumped. The hacker wrapped his legs around Sanghyuk’s waist, holding on like a koala, and trailing kisses along the criminal’s jaw as Sanghyuk carried him out of the workroom.

His men knew better than to look twice at their boss, even if he was carrying his newest acquisition around the mansion. They finally made it to Sanghyuk’s bedroom, only stopping twice along the way to kiss against various walls, and the criminal made sure the door was locked this time before he set Jaehwan on his feet.

“My heart is pounding,” Jaehwan said breathlessly, watching Sanghyuk shrug off his suit jacket. “I think that’s probably the adrenaline shot you just got,” Sanghyuk replied, grinning and pressing the hacker’s back against the wall.

His fingers found their way under Jaehwan’s shirt, running along the subtilty defined muscles of his stomach as he mouthed the side of his hacker’s neck. Jaehwan’s hands were knotted in Sanghyuk’s hair, his head tilted back as he bit his bottom lip.

“Bed, now,” Sanghyuk purred, his mouth tracing the line of Jaehwan’s throat, but the hacker shook his head. “Not yet,” he replied, wriggling out of his coat and letting it fall to the floor before switching their positions.

Sanghyuk’s mind went completely blank when Jaehwan palmed his crotch, stroking his cock through the layer of clothing. His breath faltered as the hacker dropped to his knees and began unbuckling Sanghyuk’s belt.

Jaehwan had perfect blowjob lips, Sanghyuk thought now, cushiony and voluptuous and rose-petal pink. It wasn’t the first time the thought had crossed his mind, but it certainly was the time with the most context. The hacker tugged his slacks down, took Sanghyuk’s already hard cock in one hand, and began licking his tip. Sanghyuk couldn’t help but stare.

The hacker jerked him off slowly at first, spreading his precum around and then switching hands so he could lick it off his thumb. Then Jaehwan began to move a little faster, running his tongue along Sanghyuk’s shaft and circling his lips around the head, sucking gently.

Sanghyuk’s breath caught as Jaehwan throated him in one smooth motion, his lips wrapping around the base of the criminal’s cock as he looked up, before slowly bringing his mouth back, his tongue brushing the sensitive spot under his tip. Sanghyuk nearly came right then. 

No fucking wonder his gamer loved him so much, Jaehwan didn’t have a fucking gag reflex! Or if he did, he was very good at suppressing it! The criminal felt his cock hit the back of Jaehwan’s throat again, tongue tracing the vein as he hummed contentedly.

“Jesus, sweetheart,” Sanghyuk mumbled, unable to take his eyes off the hacker as he began to suck him off in earnest. “You’re s-so fucking good.”

“You like it, baby?” Jaehwan asked, his voice sultry as he licked his lips. Sanghyuk was panting slightly as he repeated, “Bed.” The hacker stood up, wrapping his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck and kissing him deeply, his lips red.

Sanghyuk pushed him backwards, removing the rest of his and Jaehwan’s clothing as they made their way to his fourposter bed. He looked down at Jaehwan’s perfect body, his alabaster skin glowing in the dim light of the room, before lowering him down onto the mattress.

“I’m going to fuck you until you scream, and then I’m just going to fuck you _harder_ ,” the criminal growled, climbing up next to Jaehwan and pinning him to the mattress. “ _Please_ , baby, I need you,” Jaehwan whined, his voice high and sweet as it filled Sanghyuk’s ears.

He grabbed a half empty bottle of lube of his night stand and slicked up his fingers. All thoughts of _‘this is just a rebound’_ and _‘he’s fragile, don’t break him’_ were pushed to the back of Sanghyuk’s mind. He wanted to break Jaehwan. Break him and fuck him senseless until Jaehwan was his completely.

Sanghyuk slid two fingers into Jaehwan, not giving him a single second to adjust before starting to move them in and out. His other hand was flat against the hacker’s abdomen, feeling Jaehwan tremble under his fingertips. He ran his tongue along Jaehwan’s hip, sucking roughly on his skin. His hacker’s gasps and whimpers were all he could hear.

“You’re so pretty, sweetheart, so gorgeous,” he purred, adding a third finger as he moved up to capture Jaehwan’s lips with his. Jaehwan had his hands tangled in the comforter, but he let go and wrapped his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck, moaning into his mouth as the criminal stretched him open.

When he could wait no longer, Sanghyuk pulled his fingers out and lubed up his cock before positioning himself at Jaehwan’s entrance. He pressed his tip against it, teasing, until Jaehwan whined, “Baby, please! I want you _so bad!”_

“You want me to what?” Sanghyuk asked softly, his voice like silk as he looked down at Jaehwan’s beautiful face. “Fuck me, baby, make me scream. I _need_ you!”

Sanghyuk thrust into him, all the way to the base, his eyes hooded as he watched Jaehwan sob underneath him. He held his hand out and the hacker immediately began to suck on his fingers as he adjusted to Sanghyuk’s size. Jaehwan’s tongue gliding over his fingertips, shutting his eyes and resting his palm on the criminal’s cheek.

“Tell me if I hurt you,” Sanghyuk murmured, leaning down and brushing his lips along Jaehwan’s collar bone as he pulled almost all the way out and then snapped his hips forwards.

He fucked into Jaehwan roughly, not holding back an ounce of his considerable strength. His hacker yelped and wiggled under him, wrapping his legs around Sanghyuk’s waist as the criminal moved his hand back and forth, his fingers fucking Jaehwan’s throat in time to his thrusts.

“You take it so well, sweetheart,” Sanghyuk murmured. Jaehwan’s whole body was quivering, his eyes dark with lust when they opened, and Sanghyuk couldn’t look away. His hacker’s cheeks were flushed, his lips red and kiss-swollen, a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. He trailed his fingers down Jaehwan’s chin, down his neck, down his chest and then stomach as he thrust.

“More, baby, _m-more_ ,” Jaehwan whined, his nails digging in to Sanghyuk’s shoulder blades as he rocked his hips, working Sanghyuk deeper. The criminal mouthed his throat, leaving a trial of red splotches across it, marking Jaehwan as his. He picked up his pace, pushing Jaehwan’s hands above his head and pinning them there. His other hand gripped the hacker’s waist hard enough to bruise, holding him in place.

Jaehwan was so tight around him, his warmth encasing Sanghyuk as he snapped his hips forward. The hacker moaned loudly when Sanghyuk hit his prostate, almost a scream, and Sanghyuk hit it over and over and _over_ again.

“Fuck, baby, so good, so good, _so good!”_ Jaehwan screamed, hands twisting where Sanghyuk held them and head thrown back in ecstasy. As promised, Sanghyuk fucked into him harder, pressing his lips against the hacker’s sternum as he watched Jaehwan fall apart underneath him.

Jaehwan came then, Sanghyuk’s name on his lips. His walls clenched around the criminal, and the tightness combined with Jaehwan’s whimpers made Sanghyuk cum as well, deep inside the hacker. He fucked them through it, riding out the spike of pleasure and feeling nothing but bliss.

The hacker was limp under him, panting shallowly as Sanghyuk released his wrists. His arms wrapped tightly around Sanghyuk’s neck, capturing his lips and kissing him deeply. “You’re something else,” Sanghyuk said softly, kissing Jaehwan’s forehead as he pulled out.

\---

Hongbin had listened to the feed from the microphone installed in Jaehwan’s computer monitor until the room fell silent. He had hit the play button as soon as Jaehwan hung up the phone, tears streaming down his cheeks as he listened to that bastard kiss Jaehwan. His Jaehwan.

It was a fitting punishment, Hongbin supposed, having to listen to the love of his life kiss another man. Certainly, it was the worst thing he could think of. Having to hear Jaehwan sleep with someone else would have been different. Easier. But this, all their talk of sparks and fireworks. Sex could be mechanical with someone you didn’t love, but kissing was intimate. Sanghyuk and Jaehwan were intimate on a level that Hongbin had never imagined, and it had thoroughly broken him.

Sure, Seokjin may have warned him that they were sleeping together, but it hadn’t prepared Hongbin at all. He hadn’t actually believed it, not completely. Jaehwan was so loyal to Hongbin, they had loved each other so deeply and for so long.

_“Taekwoon,”_ Hongbin whispered into the phone. His tears had slowed to the point that they became manageable, and he was curled on his side on the floor of his game room, strands of hair stuck to his cheeks.

_“Hey Kong, what can I do for you today?”_ Taekwoon’s voice replied, his soft voice sounding very far away.

_“I need another favor.”_

**Chapter 7: The Insight**   
**Summary:**

**“Jae,” Sanghyuk said, waiting for the hacker to look up again before asking, “Do you really think I’m that evil?”**

_ The Insight:  _

Jaehwan didn’t leave Sanghyuk’s bedroom for the rest of that day. The criminal had ordered both lunch and dinner brought to his room, which they had been, and the two of them spent their time alternating between sex and reminiscing.

The hacker had learned a lot about the criminal and his history. He had learned, for instance, that Sanghyuk had been out of town on business when his uncle died, the former boss’s health already failing and having taken one hit too many during training with some of his men. He learned that Sanghyuk’s mother was still alive, living the posh life of a socialite down town. How, even though the criminal regularly padded her back accounts, they never saw each other. He learned that Sanghyuk was only a few months older than he was, despite having the aura of someone much more grown up. He had practiced it, Sanghyuk told Jaehwan, the art of being mature.

The criminal had let Jaehwan listen when he canceled all his appointments for the day, instructing Hakyeon to take the lead for him on things he couldn’t avoid. Sanghyuk had told Jaehwan about his friends. How he and Hakyeon had grown up together, trained together, fought together. How Wonshik had helped him when he was just a 15-year-old kid, having taken a beating at the hands of a rival gang before being left for dead in an alley until Wonshik happened upon him. The doctor had only been a student at that time, but he had taken the young Sanghyuk, battered and bruised, back to his apartment and patched him up. How they had been best friends ever since.

Jaehwan had listened raptly, asking the occasional question here and there from where he sat in between the criminal’s legs. Sanghyuk made him feel warm and safe, but it didn’t do much to fill the Hongbin shaped hole in Jaehwan’s heart. Sure, the sex was mind-blowing, and it helped quell his racing thoughts a bit, but it wasn’t like Jaehwan could force himself to stop loving Hongbin. It wasn’t a feeling he could just turn off, no matter how much he wished he could.

It was morning now, and the sunlight filtering through the blinds was soft against Jaehwan’s closed eyes. His back was snuggled comfortably against the criminal’s chest, their legs tangled together under the plush covers. Sanghyuk ran so warm it was like sleeping next to a furnace, and Jaehwan was grateful for it. He had slept much better than the night before, the cold emptiness of his guestroom bed leaving him shivering.

“Good morning,” Sanghyuk muttered sleepily, hugging Jaehwan against him and burying his face in the hacker’s hair. “Hi,” Jaehwan replied, rolling in place and pressing his forehead against the criminals. Sanghyuk look so much younger, softer, in the haze of morning. His raven hair sticking up every which way, one eye cracked open in a squint.

“How did you sleep?” Jaehwan asked, unable to suppress a little smile when criminal nuzzled his cheek. “Better than I have in a very long time,” Sanghyuk mumbled, pressing his lips to the corner of Jaehwan’s mouth. It should have felt like nothing, just sleepy kisses on a Saturday morning. But doing this with anyone other than Hongbin, the idea was foreign to him.

His mind strayed, painting a picture of Hongbin alone in the penthouse, no doubt hiding in his game room. The bracelet Jaehwan gifted to him abandoned in a corner. He wouldn’t have brushed his hair, Jaehwan thought, imagining caramel-colored curls messily framing the face he knew so well. A flash of dimples. A gleam of straight, white teeth as his lips parted in a smile.

Jaehwan blinked rapidly, coming back to reality with a snap. He put his hands on Sanghyuk’s shoulders and pushed the criminal onto his back, rolling on top of him and straddling his waist. The t-shirt and sweatpants Sanghyuk let him borrow suddenly felt constricting, like he wasn’t able to breath properly, despite them being a size too big.

Sanghyuk peered blearily up at him, his fingers weaving with Jaehwan’s, allowing the hacker to press their clasped hands into the pillow behind Sanghyuk’s head. The criminal’s breath was coming heavier. Jaehwan leaned down, arching his back so their chests were flush, grazing his teeth over Sanghyuk’s Adam’s apple as he slowly began rolling his hips.

Sanghyuk gasped quietly, squeezing Jaehwan’s hands as the hacker ground against him, his thighs tightening around Sanghyuk’s torso, nipping gently at Sanghyuk’s bottom lip. “Sweet- Sweetheart,” the criminal breathed, exhaling sharply when Jaehwan began nibbling on his earlobe.

“Sweetheart, as much as I would love to- to stay in bed with you for the rest of- of my life, we have things to do today. I can’t- I can’t shirk my responsibilities two days in a row,” he continued, his voice breaking every time Jaehwan’s crotch pressed against his own.

Jaehwan sighed, mouth tracing the criminal’s strong jaw. He new Sanghyuk was right. He had to start prepping for this job and Wonshik would probably want to examine him. What the hacker really needed was a distraction, a way to stop imagining Hongbin running back into Seokjin’s undoubtedly waiting arms for comfort. Seokjin could never resist a charity case, and Namjoon wouldn’t mind either. Work would keep Jaehwan occupied if Sanghyuk wouldn’t.

“Fine baby, I have code to write,” Jaehwan said, pressing a final kiss to the criminal’s lips before releasing his hands and sliding off the bed. He ignored Sanghyuk’s startled expression as he grabbed Sanghyuk’s fluffy cobalt bathrobe from the closet and wrapped it around himself. “I’m borrowing this, I’ll be in my workroom if you need me.”

\---

Hakyeon had invaded the medical ward for the third time in less than 24 hours, and Wonshik was going out of his mind.

He wouldn’t stop rearranging Wonshik’s medical supplies and reading over his shoulder as Wonshik wrote a detailed description of Jaehwan’s procedure in his notebook. Hakyeon was breathing too close to his ear and Wonshik finally lost his patience.

“Will you go away? You’re driving me nuts!” Wonshik exclaimed, dropping his pen and turning to glare at his friend. “No, Hyoggie kicked me out, so I have nothing else to do.”

“I’m going to kick you out!” Wonshik replied, but Hakyeon just laughed. “You’re not my boss, I can bug you all I want.”

“You’re Sanghyuk’s second in command, don’t you have anything you can help him with?” Hakyeon shrugged and began organizing Wonshik’s syringes in order of descending size. “Not at the moment, I finished everything yesterday when Hyoggie ducked out to fuck his nerd.”

Wonshik rolled his eyes but kept his other more mutinous feelings off his face. He liked Jaehwan, how could he not?! The boy was cuter than a basket of puppies being held by a laughing baby in a flower costume! Walking in on him and Sanghyuk hasn’t been an enjoyable experience. How did Sanghyuk have the balls to tell Wonshik off just for saying Jaehwan was cute when he went around pinning him to furniture like it was nothing?!

“Where is Jaehwan? I really need to examine him. Is he still cloistered away in Sanghyuk’s room?” Wonshik asked, closing his notebook and checking his watch. It was already the middle of the afternoon, he hoped Sanghyuk had given Jaehwan a break so he could eat, at least.

“He left really early this morning, Sanghyuk said he was working,” Hakyeon replied, running his hands through Wonshik hair, thoroughly and deliberately messing it up. “Fine, I’m going to check up on him in his room then.”

“I’ll come with you,” Hakyeon said cheerfully, ignoring Wonshik’s loud sigh and walking at the doctor’s side. The pair made their way to the other side of the mansion, where Wonshik knocked softly on the door of Jaehwan’s workroom and cracked it open.

Jaehwan was sitting at his desk, the blinds closed and the only light in the room coming from his three computer monitors. He had on what Wonshik easily recognized as Sanghyuk’s favorite bathrobe as well as wire rimmed glasses and comically large headphones. His fingers were moving across his keyboard so fast they were almost a blur.

The hacker hadn’t noticed Wonshik and Hakyeon come in, so the doctor put a hand to his mouth and called, “Jaehwan!”, but no dice. He hadn’t even blinked. Hakyeon walked right up behind Jaehwan’s chair and put his hands over the hacker’s eyes which turned out to be a much more effective strategy.

Jaehwan jumped about a foot in the air, pulling his headphone off and shouting, “You scared the shit out of me! Don’t sneak up on people like that!”

“I need to check how you’re doing with the serum,” Wonshik said, grinning at Jaehwan’s adorable angry face. “Not now, I’m busy. One of you bring me a Red Bull and like 20 bags of Cheetos,” Jaehwan snapped, turning back to his computers and resuming his typing.

“Doctors orders, brat,” Hakyeon said, laughing as he snagged Jaehwan’s headphones from around his neck and stepping back so the hacker couldn’t reach. “You’re so fucking irritating! I’ll let you look at me if you make him leave!” Jaehwan shouted, making a grab for his headphones and missing before glaring at Wonshik.

“You heard him, go get him his snacks,” Wonshik said happily, glad for the excuse to get rid of his friend. At least he wasn’t the only one Hakyeon pissed off. His friend sighed dramatically before laying Jaehwan’s headphones on the desk and flouncing out of the room.

“Have you eaten?” Wonshik asked, coming to kneel in front of Jaehwan’s chair and taking his wrist. Jaehwan’s pulse was slightly elevated, but that could be from what Wonshik privately referred to as, _‘The Hakyeon Effect’_. “No, I’ve been working since like 6 am, I haven’t had time.”

“You’ve been staring at a screen for 11 hours?! Your poor eyes!” Wonshik exclaimed, standing up and peering into each of Jaehwan’s eyes. “Computer glasses,” the hacker replied, tapping one of the wire rimmed lenses with his fingernail. “They reflect the blue light, it helps.”

“And how are you feeling after yesterday?” Wonshik asked. “Sore and heartbroken,” Jaehwan snapped, looking away and fingering the band-aid on his neck. Wonshik paused, only understanding the meaning behind half of that sentence, and not wanting to intrude on the hacker private business.

“Anyway, I feel fine otherwise. I have a little more energy, I think, I’m not as tired. Normally I have to take naps,” Jaehwan continued, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. He looked so small, Wonshik wanted to bundle him up in a thousand blankets and kiss a smile back on his face. But he held himself back.

Wonshik pulled a sealed band-aid out of his pocket and unwrapped it before quickly peeling the old one off the injection site. Everything looked perfectly normal aside from Jaehwan’s 17462 hickeys, but the doctor put the new band-aid on anyway, just to be safe.

“Ok, well that’s good. I’d like to check your blood again tomorrow to see what kind of physiological effect the serum is having, if that’s alright with you,” Wonshik said, patting Jaehwan’s knee. The hacker nodded his ascent, just as Hakyeon walked back in carrying two redbull’s and an enormous bag of chips.

“We didn’t have any Cheetos, so I brought you two drinks and these. You’re lucky we have anything at all, Hyoggie doesn’t normally keep junk food in the house,” Hakyeon said, depositing the snacks in Jaehwan’s lap and resting his hand on Wonshik’s shoulder.

“Doritos are fine, thanks. How _is_ the head bitch doing this afternoon?” Jaehwan asked with a nonchalance that seemed forced, as he popped open one of the energy drinks. “I don’t know, you’ve seen _far more_ of him than I have,” Hakyeon replied, giving the hacker a very knowing smile.

Jaehwan laughed, high and cold, before he turned back to the doctor and asked, “Is that all? I need to get back to this bullshit.”

“Sure, as long as you’re feeling ok, that’s it. I’ll see you at dinner, and make sure to take breaks every now and then, doctors’ orders,” Wonshik replied, patting Jaehwan’s knee again as he stood up. The hacker didn’t respond, just put his headphones back on, took a sip of Red Bull, and resumed typing.

“He types like a demon, and acts like one too,” Hakyeon said, once the two of them were back in the hall. “I’m worried, he shouldn’t be working himself so hard in his condition,” Wonshik replied, glancing back at the door to Jaehwan’s workroom as they walked away.

\---

Jaehwan hadn’t showed up to dinner, and even though Hakyeon assured him that the hacker was well catered for with snacks, Sanghyuk was still concerned. He hadn’t seen Jaehwan since he walked out of Sanghyuk’s bedroom, and Sanghyuk himself had been very busy so he hadn’t had time to stop in and check on the hacker.

He had several video calls with various news stations and was thoroughly exhausted from acting pleasant all afternoon. What Sanghyuk really wanted to do was eat a bathtub full of ramen and then pass out in it, but he decided to go find Jaehwan instead.

When he arrived at the workroom, he found Jaehwan sitting cross legged on the floor, his phone smashed to pieces next to the door, and computer parts laid in concentric circles around the hacker like Saturn and its rings.

“What the _fuck_ happened here?” Sanghyuk asked, bewildered, nudging the broken phone with the toe of his shoe. Jaehwan looked up, his glasses making his eyes appear bigger than they already were, and he seemed incredibly shaken up.

“Did you put something in my computer as well as my car?” Jaehwan asked, his voice very quiet. Sanghyuk looked at him blankly. “No, all I did was put a tracker on your car in case you tried to run away before giving me an answer, why? Is there something wrong?”

“I- I don’t understand,” the hacker muttered, staring down at a small circuit board-looking thing he was holding in his lap. “What is that?” Sanghyuk asked, walking closer and crouching down across from Jaehwan, the scattered computer parts keeping them three feet apart.

“It’s a bug,” Jaehwan replied, holding the circuit board up to his face. “I was doing a routine check of my equipment, I do it like once a week because the jobs I do aren’t always legal, and this one is especially not, and this was in my computer monitor. You can see the little microphone, look.”

He handed the bug to Sanghyuk, who took it a bit hesitantly and held it flat on his palm. “It’s not the governments, I know what their chips look like and I know their markings. And, I did a check the day we had our first meeting and there was nothing. That’s why I wondered if you-”

“No, I didn’t. I wouldn’t have had the chance. Who do you think is spying on you if not the cops? And, is it turned on? Can it hear us?” Sanghyuk asked, poking at the chip and looking back up at the hacker.

Jaehwan was staring at Sanghyuk but not like he was really seeing him. His eyes were glazed, and he didn’t answer for a moment. “Honestly, I wish it had been you,” he whispered, hanging his head and ruffling the back of his hair. “No, it’s not on anymore. It was right before I touched it though and has probably been on since I left my penthouse. There are only two people other than me who have had access to my computers, and only one has enough technical knowledge to do this.” He trailed off at the end of the sentence, and Sanghyuk suddenly understood.

“Your gamer? Hongbin, I mean?” he asked, quickly correcting himself when he saw Jaehwan wince. “I wondered what he and Taekwoon were doing in my office. They said they had been playing video games, and I just didn’t question it. I thought they had been looking for an extra controller or something. It’s not like I would ever have thought to suspect… this.”

He was quiet for a few more seconds, before he took the chip from Sanghyuk and stood up. Sanghyuk watched in slight amazement as the hacker pulled his keys from the pocket of his borrowed bathrobe, ran a magnetic keychain over the chip, dropped it on the floor, and then stomped on it with the heel of his chunky sneaker.

Jaehwan stomped twice more until the chip was shattered, and then he threw the pieces in the little trash can next to his desk. “Hongbin isn’t smart enough to build this, no offense to him. Or I guess, lots of offense. But Taekwoon is. He’s always been nice to me, but his loyalty and friendship are unquestioningly Hongbin’s, not mine. He would have done it if Hongbin asked him too.”

“Is that the same Taekwoon you helped rob me?” Sanghyuk asked, not meaning to be rude, just trying to get a clearer picture of the situation. “Yes. Hongbin used me as a bet in a poker game and then lost. Taek got a free favor.”

“So,” Sanghyuk said, clearing his throat in an attempt to stall for time. He really didn’t want to bring this up when it was already a sensitive subject, but it would be better if everything was out in the open. “So, if it’s been on the whole time, does- did he hear everything yesterday? After your phone call?”

Jaehwan went very still. “He fucking deserves it if he did,” he said, almost spitting the words. “Piece of shit didn’t trust me enough to let me go on a job without tapping my fucking equipment, but he goes and has a threesome with Jinnie and Joonie.” He shook his head in disgust.

“I need to put this back together,” Jaehwan muttered, picking up a screw driver that had been lying on the floor next to him. “Can I help?” Sanghyuk asked quietly. This was an unfortunate development in the soap opera he had accidentally fallen into.

“Not really. I can do it pretty quickly. You can throw my phone away though.” Sanghyuk turned to look back at the smashed remains of phone scattered by the door.

“Was that bugged too?” he asked, starting to pick up the pieces. “Probably. It could easily have been used to track me and Taekwoon most likely hacked the camera so Hongbin could watch me. The constant texts were pissing me off the point where I was going to smash it anyway.” 

“Oh,” Sanghyuk muttered, tossing the broken phone in the trash. “Technology is fucking scary,” he said under his breath, surprisingly making Jaehwan chuckle. It was low and throaty. A bedroom chuckle. Sanghyuk felt the sound tingle all the way down to his toes.

“Yeah. I know it is. Just wait until some psycho hacks into a nuke base and decides to play a little game,” Jaehwan mumbled, screwing two sections of computer back together. That comment filled Sanghyuk with both horror and a weird spark of excitement.

“You could do that?” he asked softly, pretending not to be very interested, but he must not have carried it off quite right. “Don’t get any ideas. I won’t be responsible for the genocide of innocents. I’ll die first,” Jaehwan replied coldly, lifting his head and giving the criminal a very intense stare.

“I was just asking. I’m not a mass murderer, and I don’t kill people for fun,” Sanghyuk said defensively, sitting back on his heels and matching Jaehwan’s glare. The hacker nodded appraisingly after a moment and returned his focus to his computer. The idea that Jaehwan _actually_ believed him capable of such a thing turned Sanghyuk’s stomach.

He wasn’t a bad person, not really. Sure, he did shitty things occasionally, but he never did anything without a reason. Violence was an unfortunate consequence of this line of work, but he always gave people a chance to fix their mistakes, a chance to learn from them. To grow. It was only when they made the same mistake over again or took advantage of his generosity that things got violent.

But he took care of his people and the people living in his territory. Whether that was by physically sending his men to keep them safe if there was a threat, or by messing with politicians so a good law reform was passed. He was a good person. A good person that did what he had too to help his people survive.

“Jae,” Sanghyuk said, waiting for the hacker to look up again before asking, “Do you really think I’m _that_ evil?”

The force behind Jaehwan’s eyes nearly made Sanghyuk lose his breath. The hacker’s fierce intelligence had never been as apparent as it was now, the sharpness of his gaze. Sanghyuk could see the thoughts running through Jaehwan’s mind, calculating, but didn’t have a clue what they were.

“No, not right now. But that kind of power could corrupt even the most honorable person,” he said softly. The little crease in his brow smoothed after a minute, and he reached past his circle of electronics to run his fingertips across the back of Sanghyuk’s hand. “I wouldn’t trust myself with that, either, which is why I’ve never tried. The curiosity might turn out to be too much to withstand. And, let’s be honest, I’m no saint but I’m not the head of an extraordinarily influential crime family.”

“I’m not a bad person,” Sanghyuk said hastily. He knew the hacker wasn’t insulting him, but he wanted Jaehwan to think of him in a positive light. 

Jaehwan was looking at him with his head tilted, barely breathing he was so still. “I’m not,” Sanghyuk repeated, taking the hackers hand in his own and intertwining their fingers. “Sometimes problems just have to be solved. I always try and find a diplomatic solution to things before I let them get messy, and everything I do is for my people. I’m fair,” he continued, his words sounding whiney and pathetic to his own ears.

“Did you give Seokjin a script? That’s very nearly _exactly_ what he told me about you,” Jaehwan murmured, leaning forwards a little. His gaze was so concentrated that Sanghyuk felt like he was under a microscope.

“No, I didn’t. They were his own impressions, I guess. But, I’m not evil,” Sanghyuk replied vehemently, starting to fidget. This wasn’t a conversation he ever envisioned having. Trying to persuade a computer genius he had known for less than a week that he was a good person. It was an uncomfortable feeling, being wrong-footed when he was so used to being in control.

“Are you trying to convince me, or yourself?” Jaehwan asked, his voice kind but his words still cutting. “You! I know I’m alright, but you- I don’t like being thought poorly of!”

“I’m going to circle back to the whole thing about you leading a crime family,” Jaehwan said, but the words were barely out of his mouth before Sanghyuk exclaimed, “I’ve saved people! I save people all the time! Sure, people fuck up and make stupid decisions, like doing drugs or gambling all their money away, but I’m not their baby sitter! People need to make their own mistakes, so they learn! I rebuild my people’s homes when they get damaged, employ other people to maintain them. I provide jobs to thousands, so they and their families don’t starve in the cold! I have a homeless shelter and a food bank!”

“That may be the case, but those first things, the drugs and the gambling. You allow those drugs to cross into your territory, and I know for a fact you run quite a few casinos and gambling rings. And you take profit from both. Do you believe that all the good things you do cancel out the bad?” Jaehwan asked, his quiet question throwing Sanghyuk into confusion.

“I have to make money somehow! If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to help my people!” Sanghyuk insisted. “And yet, you live in a _mansion_. A mansion flowing with more luxury, and that is more ostentations than the poshest hotel I’ve been too, and I’ve been to plenty.”

“Image is important! You live in a penthouse, and I own your building! I know how much you pay for rent! Not to mention your designer wardrobe!” Sanghyuk was at a loss. He had absolutely no idea of how to convince Jaehwan of his character. “Yes, that’s all true. But I’m not responsible for anyone other than myself,” the hacker replied, letting Sanghyuk’s hand go and finishing piecing his computer back together.

The criminal sat in stunned silence for quite a long time, watching Jaehwan work. Once he had regained the ability to think somewhat clearly, he said, “I know you aren’t, but-“ He didn’t get to finish his sentence. “Shh, baby, it’s ok,” Jaehwan interrupted, his voice soft as he placed the nearly rebuilt computer on the ground at his side.

“You don’t have to try and persuade me of anything. I wasn’t criticizing, just making observations, and the fact that you’re trying at all says a lot. It’s just food for thought,” he continued, scooting over and sitting cross-legged again, their knees touching.

Sanghyuk honestly didn’t know what to do. Jaehwan was the weak one and he was the strong one. That’s how their dynamic worked! That was Sanghyuk’s comfort zone, and he, he had no fucking clue what this zone was, but it was nowhere near comfortable.

He reached out and cupped the hacker’s cheeks in both hands, as if physical contact would make him feel more anchored, and after floundering for what to say for a few seconds, he settled on, “I’m sorry I kicked you out of bed this morning.” It was true, and he had been meaning to apologize anyway, but he hadn’t been sure of how to bring it up.

Jaehwan sighed, seeming more tired than anything else, and he replied easily, “It’s ok. I got a lot of work done today, so your project, for lack of a better word, should be ready to put into action within a week. Probably sooner.” Sanghyuk’s robe looked so big on Jaehwan, like it would swallow him up. He looked heavenly, like an angel of truth and judgement that had come into Sanghyuk’s life to call him to justice. Enchanting and terrifying.

“You are so beautiful,” Sanghyuk murmured, losing himself in the hacker’s chocolate brown eyes. A small smile played on Jaehwan’s lips, and he nodded. “I know. You aren’t too bad looking, yourself.” Sanghyuk couldn’t stop the incredulous laugh that escaped him. How had he possible managed to get himself in this situation?

**Chapter 8: The Arrival**   
**Summary:**

**“Those pants are hideous,” Sanghyuk said, abandoning his paperwork and standing up. He would be of no use to anyone while his hacker was around. It was pointless to keep trying.**

The Arrival:

“No. I’m putting my foot down this time,” Taekwoon said harshly, crossing his arms and glaring at Hongbin across the living room.

“Just help me! I’ll buy you like… 16 cats! Whatever you want!” Hongbin pleaded, palms pressed together, and head bowed in a mockery of prayer. “I have just as much money as you do, you dick! If I want 16 cats, I’ll buy them myself!” Taekwoon snapped, his eyebrows knitting together in frustration.

“But,” Hongbin started, and then was immediately cut off. “No! You need to calm down! You’re going a little crazy and it’s starting to genuinely worry me!”

Hongbin was fidgety. Actually, he felt a bit manic if he was being honest, and the Adderall he’d been taking like candy probably wasn’t helping him relax. He needed to get Jaehwan back and he needed to do it now.

“I’m fine, I just want to get Jaehwan out of that stupid mansion and away from that psycho essentially holding him hostage!” Hongbin replied, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “He’s not being held hostage! He’s fucking working, and it sounds like he does, in fact, want to be there, if the recording you played for me is any indication! Do you honestly blame him?” Taekwoon asked incredulously.

Taek didn’t understand. Jaehwan wasn’t dead, he wasn’t gone in the way Hongbin had been preparing for over the last three years. He was alive, very much alive and playing house with a violent criminal! Jaehwan had found the bug, that had always been an inevitability, so listening wasn’t an option anymore, but he wasn’t answering his texts and every time Hongbin tried calling it went straight to voicemail.

His Jaehwan wasn’t safe. Who cares if he thought he wanted to be there?! That criminal had probably tricked Jaehwan into believing that he was kind, and Jaehwan was too nice, to caring. He would fall for Han Sanghyuk’s lies in no time flat. Hongbin had fucked up, that was true, but they were even now! They had both been with someone else and Jaehwan should come back to him like he always did!

“You need to give him space,” Taekwoon said, his voice a little softer than before, like he was trying to calm a startled animal. “He’s had space, he needs to come back before he actually goes through with this ridiculous moving out idea,” Hongbin replied. His eyes moved across the living room, lingering on a pair of Jaehwan’s socks laying on the rug and the Jasmin scented diffuser that Jaehwan had set on the mantel piece.

“He did break up with you, you remember that, correct? I know it sucks that he dumped you over the phone, but you guys had a good run. Three years is a long-“

“He didn’t mean it, he was speaking out of anger! Once he’s calmed down and come home, he’ll realize he was wrong,” Hongbin snapped, crossing his arms and glaring at his friend. “You’re hearing yourself, right? You hear how crazy and possessive you sound?” Taekwoon asked, squinting at Hongbin in disbelief.

Hongbin chose to ignore that last comment and replied, “Just help me get him back! He’s going to work himself to death with that criminal and I’ll never be able to see him again!”

“No! You need to sleep dude, and I’m confiscating your meds for a while, they aren’t helping!”

“I’ll do it myself then, since you’re being so fucking difficult!”

\---

Jaehwan woke slowly, alone in Sanghyuk’s bed with no memory of how he got there. He had been writing code late into the night, last time he looked at the clock it said 2 am, and he must have dozed off at some point. Sanghyuk had probably found him and carried him to bed, and Jaehwan was grateful. This was a much more comfortable place to sleep than his desk chair.

Jaehwan stretched luxuriously and then noticed he was wearing an unfamiliar pair of pinstripe silk pajamas. They were soft, the fabric running over his skin like water. He sat up and looked over the edge of the bed to find a cozy looking pair of fluffy white slippers. Maybe Sanghyuk had been set out for him, Jaehwan thought, as he slid his feet into them.

He was hungry, but food could wait. Wonshik said he wanted another blood sample today and it was usually best not to eat beforehand. Jaehwan remembered his doctors always telling him to fast before getting blood drawn, that was probably still the case. He stumbled blearily over to the bedroom door and wandered into the hall, combing his hair with his fingers as he made his way down to the medical ward.

“You are so- did you sleep in?” Wonshik asked when Jaehwan opened the door, his lips curved into a smile and the corners of his eyes crinkled. Jaehwan could tell he wanted to say ‘cute’. The urge to compliment was written all over the doctor’s face.

“I think so? I don’t actually know what time it is,” Jaehwan replied, plopping down on the examination table. “It’s almost noon, but I’m glad you got some rest after working so hard yesterday,” the doctor replied, coming over and starting to take Jaehwan’s pulse.

“I haven’t had breakfast yet, since it can mess up test results, right? I came to you first,” Jaehwan said, shivering as the cold metal of Wonshik’s stethoscope slid under his shirt. “You’re right, food can affect blood tests, but I want you to promise that you’ll eat something afterwards. And drink some orange juice to get your blood sugar up.”

Jaehwan nodded, letting his eyes flutter shut. Wonshik’s touch was gentle, he felt more relaxed here than he ever had in a doctor’s office before.

There was a soft knock on the door, and Sanghyuk appeared, looking, to a sleepy Jaehwan, like one of Dracula’s sexy cousins. His dark maroon blazer was fitted perfectly over a black button down, the top few buttons open, very dapper as always.

“There you are! I went to wake you but when you weren’t in bed, I guessed that you might be here,” Sanghyuk said, grinning and coming to stand beside the table, petting Jaehwan’s hair. The hacker smiled, leaning into the touch and shutting his eyes again. Having the criminal around had become somewhat of a comfort for Jaehwan.

“I was just about to take a blood sample,” Wonshik said quietly, and Jaehwan let the doctor lift him down from the table and pull him over to the tall chair he sat in last time. “Oh good! I’ve been wondering if your crazy treatment is working,” Sanghyuk replied as he trailed after them.

The criminal was holding a small black gift bag, and Jaehwan eyed it curiously as Wonshik went to wash his hands. “What’s that?” he asked, and Sanghyuk turned his face away, almost shy. “It’s for you, actually.”

Jaehwan made grabby-hands at the bag, wondering what the criminal could have brought for him. Sanghyuk chuckled and held it out, saying, “Nothing big, I just wanted to make your job a bit easier, one less thing for you to worry about.”

Jaehwan reached inside and pulled out a box, a picture of a phone almost identical to his broken one on the front. It was the newest version, and the hackers heart fluttered. “You got me a new phone?” he asked, a little surprised at the thoughtfulness of the gesture. Sanghyuk nodded, looking very pleased with himself. “I picked it up on the way home from my appointment this morning.”

“You didn’t have to,” Jaehwan mumbled, lifting the lid and inspecting the jet-black phone inside. The protective wrapper was still on the screen, it was exactly what he would have bought for himself.

“I wanted too. Think of it as a business expense if you don’t like gifts,” the criminal said, lightly tapping under Jaehwan’s chin and making him smile. “Thank you, it was very generous,” he replied, brushing his lips across Sanghyuk’s palm.

“Just set that aside for a few minutes and relax your arm,” Wonshik said, coming back over and rolling up Jaehwan’s sleeve. The hacker put his new phone back in its bag and handed it to Sanghyuk, before clutching the edge of the chair.

“Do you want to hold my hand?” Sanghyuk asked, echoing the first time Jaehwan had sat here. Unlike that time, Jaehwan nodded, weaving their fingers together and squeezing as the needle pierced his skin.

\---

Sanghyuk was sitting at his desk, trying very hard to concentrate on the stack of paperwork in front of him. It was more difficult than it should be. His hacker was nibbling on a waffle and setting up his new phone, draped across the sofa on the other side of the room. It was incredibly distracting.

Jaehwan kept making little huffy noises under his breath and changing his sitting position, his long legs were arranged differently every time Sanghyuk looked up. The hacker was once again wrapped in Sanghyuk’s bathrobe, having showered and changed into a clean pair of sweatpants. They were Jaehwan’s own today, and the Supreme/LV collab logo was sprinkled rather artlessly across the bright red fabric.

“Those pants are hideous,” Sanghyuk said, abandoning his paperwork and standing up. He would be of no use to anyone while his hacker was around. It was pointless to keep trying.

“Don’t be rude,” Jaehwan replied, looking up from his phone with an adorable pout on his face before taking a bite of waffle. The criminal had ordered breakfast for Jaehwan and had it brought here so he could make sure Jaehwan actually ate it, he didn’t want the hacker to get distracted and forget like yesterday. Sanghyuk crossed the room in a few long strides, lifting up the hacker’s legs before sitting next to him and laying them on his lap.

Jaehwan wiggled his feet back and forth, fluffy slippers tapping against Sanghyuk’s thighs, humming contentedly as he ate another bite. He looked so cute that, completely involuntarily, Sanghyuk made a soft cooing noise, running his thumb across Jaehwan cheek. He was so surprised at himself that he snapped his mouth shut. It was the kind of noise Wonshik made every time he saw a puppy, and Sanghyuk hadn’t thought himself capable of sounding so ridiculous.

Jaehwan smiled, apparently pleased by the attention, and held his waffle in front of the criminal’s mouth, but Sanghyuk shook his head. “I don’t like frozen food, thanks for offering though,” he said, watching as Jaehwan shrugged, unbothered. “I don’t understand how anyone can dislike Eggo’s but that’s your problem. More for me,” Jaehwan replied, winking and taking another bite.

“I hope the other snacks I had the chef put in the kitchen for you are alright. I asked... my other coder to write a grocery list of what you like before you got here,” Sanghyuk said, remembering at the last second not to say Seokjin’s name. Jaehwan’s lip curled in a sneer, but he nodded. “They’re great, he knows me too well. I won’t starve, I promise.”

“So, how’s the phone working?” Sanghyuk asked, wanting to get off that dangerous line of conversation as quickly as possible. Jaehwan’s happy expression returned at once. “It’s fantastic! Exactly what I would have chosen,” he replied, picking the phone back up and showing it to the criminal. The lock screen was standard blue, and Sanghyuk thought back, trying to think of what it had been before. He half remembered there being a picture.

“Do you like having a plain background? Didn’t it used to be a selfie or something?” he asked, immediately regretting the question as soon as it was out of his mouth. How did Jaehwan ruffle him so badly? He felt like he was constantly saying the wrong thing!

“It used to be a selfie, you’re right. But I don’t like seeing that photo anymore,” Jaehwan replied slowly, looking at his phone and idly tapping the screen. His lips were pressed tightly together, and his brow wrinkled. It must have been a picture of him and Hongbin, Sanghyuk forgot that couples like to do that sort of thing.

“Come here,” Sanghyuk said, suddenly struck with a fun idea. He took the phone and reached over, wrapping his arms around the hacker’s waist and pulling him onto his lap. Jaehwan draped an arm around Sanghyuk’s shoulder, seeming unsure of what was happening as the criminal pressed his lips to the hacker’s cheek. The phone camera made a little shutter sound, and Sanghyuk grinned, lowering his arm and admiring his handiwork. The picture was cute. Jaehwan’s expression, a mixture of surprised and pleased, was beyond precious.

Keeping one hand on the hacker’s hip, Sanghyuk clicked around until he found the settings and then set the photo as the background. He also texted it to himself, how could he not, before handing it back. “There, now you don’t have to have a boring lock screen,” he said, watching Jaehwan stare at his phone.

A little smile crossed the hackers face, almost fond, his blonde hair falling over his eyes. “What’s yours, you and Hakyeon? You don’t really seem like the selfie type,” Jaehwan asked, reaching inside Sanghyuk’s jacket pocket and pulling out the criminal’s phone. Jaehwan was right, Sanghyuk wasn’t very into taking selfies normally, and his background was a night landscape of Seoul.

“It’s pretty, but you can do better,” Jaehwan said, swiping up to the camera before palming the criminal’s cheek and kissing him softly on the lips. Sanghyuk actually forgot about the camera until the shutter clicked, and he felt Jaehwan smile. The hacker had one-up’d him, as usual. “Now we have matching,” Jaehwan said happily, setting the picture as Sanghyuk’s lock screen and sending it to his new phone number.

Sanghyuk’s heart fluttered, filling with a weird sort of exhilaration as he watched the hacker start taking pictures of himself. “I need a cute contact photo,” he mumbled, before making an exaggerated kissy face at the camera, his very late breakfast forgotten on the table.

“I need to talk you,” Hakyeon said, opening the door to Sanghyuk’s office and stopping on the threshold. Jaehwan wasn’t fazed and kept clicking away, wriggling on the criminals lap a little so he could get a better angle, but Sanghyuk glanced over, gritting his teeth as he asked, “Right now?”

“Yes, right now. It’s important,” Hakyeon replied, giving the criminal a very pointed look and flourishing his hand at the hallway. Sanghyuk sighed, annoyed at the interruption, but he gently shifted Jaehwan off him and said, “I’ll be right back. You keep doing… this, and don’t forget about your waffles,” before leaving the hacker with his phone and following Hakyeon into the hall.

“That’s not something you see every day,” Hakyeon said, a sly smile on his face as Sanghyuk shut his office door. “What?” he asked, irritation growing stronger as Hakyeon crossed his arms and replied, “A crime boss making heart eyes at a twink on his lap and taking selfies”

“You’re in no position to criticize anyone for being affectionate, and don’t be rude,” Sanghyuk snapped, giving his friend a dangerous look before asking, “What’s so important?”

“Other than you still not working like you should be? The boyfriend left their apartment.” Sanghyuk stilled. He had sent men to watch the building and report on what the gamer did after his and Jaehwan’s rather disastrous phone call, and he hadn’t gone anywhere until now.

“Where is he going? Did you put a tracker on his car? I meant to ask you to, but I forgot!” Sanghyuk said quietly, not wanting Jaehwan to accidently overhear and momentarily forgetting his office was soundproof. Hakyeon tapped his foot, looking very smug as he replied, “You didn’t ask me, but I took the liberty of doing it anyway.”

Silently thanking god for his friends almost terrifying efficiency, Sanghyuk nodded, relieved. “He isn’t in his car, though, he’s driving your nerds blue one. It doesn’t actually matter since we have a tracker in that one too, I just thought it was an interesting choice.”

It was a very interesting choice, especially in light of recent events. He should have already arranged for Jaehwan’s belongings to be picked up and located a new apartment for him, Sanghyuk thought, and then paused. Buying Jaehwan a phone was one thing, but he wasn’t responsible for helping Jaehwan move out. He shouldn’t actually care as much as he did.

Sanghyuk tried convincing himself that he was only taking this much interest for the sake of his project. Stress would negatively affect Jaehwan’s job performance, and he needed his hacker in tip-top shape to be able to pull this off. A little voice somewhere very deep inside told him that was a lie. Thinking of Jaehwan as his hacker was already a problem. He was getting attached.

“Do we know where he’s going?” Sanghyuk asked, hoping the gamer wouldn’t try and come talk to Jaehwan in person. That would be inconvenient, to say the least. “No, he’s kind of just driving around. I’ll let you know if he comes anywhere near here,” Hakyeon replied, turning to leave.

Sanghyuk nodded at no one in particular, since his friend was already several yards away, before reentering his office. Jaehwan was still holding the criminal’s phone, lying completely horizontal with half a waffle sticking out of his mouth and scrolling.

“Did you get a good picture?” Sanghyuk asked, walking over and snagging his phone out of the hacker’s hand. When he glanced at it, he realized that Jaehwan had been looking through his mobile banking, the app currently open to one of Sanghyuk’s several stock portfolios.

“Yes,” Jaehwan said innocently, smiling at Sanghyuk upside down. “And here I was thinking I’m rich, you’re fucking loaded,” he added, smiling wider as the criminal ran his tongue over his teeth. “This was locked, you were just using the camera. And I was gone for less than five minutes,” Sanghyuk said, more of a question than a statement.

“You’re forgetting what I do for a living, baby, I could have gotten in there even if your password wasn’t your birthday,” Jaehwan replied, winking at the criminal before finishing his waffle. Sanghyuk sighed, admitting defeat and locking his phone. He looked at the photo of him and Jaehwan for a few seconds, that strange joy bubbling in his stomach again, before pocketing it and sitting behind his desk. He really did have a lot of work to do.

\---

Wonshik was sitting at his desk, going over the medical records of one of Sanghyuk’s new recruits. It was something he did often. In addition to patching people up after fights and cleaning gunshot wounds, he looked for ways to treat preexisting conditions to stop them getting worse. His colleagues couldn’t work if they were sick, after all, and he liked to be helpful.

All was quiet in the medical ward, until the door flew open and Hakyeon, Sanghyuk, and Jaehwan toppled in, talking over each other so loudly that Wonshik jumped.

“You need to be checked out again! He feels warm, doesn’t he, Hakyeon?” Sanghyuk was saying, and Hakyeon nodded vehemently as he replied, “Yeah he does, maybe it’s a fever! Wonshik, please take a look at Jaehwan, he’s sick!”

“I’m not fucking sick! What’s happening? Why did you make me come here all of a sudden?” Jaehwan asked exasperatedly, hands on his hips and looking livid. “Just let Wonshik take a look at you, sweetheart, just to be sure,” Sanghyuk replied, before glaring at the doctor and snapping, “Examine him!”

“What the hell is the matter with you!? I was minding my own business and then you two show up and drag me here against my will!” Jaehwan nearly shouted, smacking Sanghyuk’s chest hard enough to make him wince. By this point, Wonshik had enough, so he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.

“One of you, quietly explain what is going on,” the doctor said, once everyone fell silent. “You need to examine Jaehwan, thoroughly. Or, give him a shot to knock him out. At this point I don’t care, just keep an eye on him, we have to go,” Sanghyuk replied, nudging the hacker further inside and turning to leave.

“I’m a doctor, not a babysitter!” Wonshik called, but the door was already shutting behind Hakyeon, leaving Jaehwan behind. He spun around to face the doctor, throwing his hands in the air and looking a mixture of bewildered and angry. “I don’t know why I’m here! I don’t have a fever, I feel perfectly fine!” Jaehwan exclaimed.

He pulled out his phone, going over to one of the sickbeds and collapsing on it as he tapped the screen. “What are you doing?” Wonshik asked, at a loss for anything else to say. The doctor had no more understanding of why Jaehwan was here than he did.

“Hijacking the security cameras, don’t tell on me. I want to see what those sneaky bitches are up too,” Jaehwan replied, turning his phone sideways. “You can do that on a cellphone?” Wonshik asked, taken aback. The hacker nodded. “If you have the right program and you know how to use it. It’s not very difficult.”

Both were quiet for a moment, until the sounds of another commotion could be heard, but further away this time. Wonshik spun around, peering out one of the windows. The medical ward faced out onto the driveway, with a good enough view that one could see past the front gate if they were so inclined. Jaehwan’s efforts turned out to be unnecessary, because the doctor could very clearly see what was happening.

There was a cool looking blue car parked sideways in front of the gate, an incredibly handsome guy leaning against the hood with his arms crossed, and Sanghyuk basically stomping towards him with Hakyeon close on his heels, as well as several of the other men. “You don’t need to use the cameras, we have a front row seat,” Wonshik called over his shoulder.

Jaehwan appeared at his side a moment later, and then screamed so shrilly that the doctor slapped his hands over his ears.

“Why the fuck is he here?!” Jaehwan yelled, turning and sprinting to the door. Wonshik swore and ran after him, already knowing that Sanghyuk was going to skin him alive for letting the hacker get out.

Wonshik didn’t catch up until Jaehwan reached the entry hall, but luckily, one of the men was standing at the front door, blocking him from going outside. “Get the fuck out of my way!” Jaehwan shouted, but the guard just laughed. He was one of the new hires, Wonshik didn’t know him, and he probably wouldn’t be around much longer because he replied, “Go back to your room little boy, the grownups have everything under control.”

Because of how much of the hacker’s temper Wonshik had witnessed during his time here, what happened next was honestly less surprising than it should have been. Jaehwan hissed under his breath, before walking right up to the guard, turned halfway around to look at the doctor, and then punched the guard in the face so hard that his head snapped back and hit the door. Wonshik clearly heard the guards nose break, poor guy hadn’t been ready for it.

Ignoring his training telling him to go attend to the guard immediately, Wonshik said, “Go to the medical ward, I’ll set your nose as soon as I get back.” He then hurried after Jaehwan, who had stepped around the guard and walked right out the front door, shaking his hand. That punch had probably hurt him too. The hacker rolled his shoulders before jogging down the driveway.

It was only then that Wonshik noticed Sanghyuk had his gun out, pointing it very calmly at the guy standing behind the gate. The doctor caught Jaehwan again when they were about ten feet away and pulled the hacker behind his back. He sincerely hoped Jaehwan wouldn’t punch him.

“Jae, come on, we’re going home,” the handsome guy called.

Sanghyuk growled and cocked his gun.

**Chapter 9: The Confrontation Pt.1**   
**Summary:**

**“I told you I don’t let things get violent without a reason. I asked him to leave and he didn’t. Then I asked him again, and he’s still here. Also, he broke your heart and spied on you for days,” Sanghyuk replied coldly, not taking his eyes off the gamer. He knew he should have fired by now, but the gun was too close to Jaehwan’s ear. His hearing would be damaged if Sanghyuk took the shot.**

  
  
**End Notes:**

**Jin text exactly like how I do, and 'FUCKING CHEETOS' makes me laugh every time I read it <3**

_ The Confrontation (Part One): _

As soon as he and Hakyeon left the medical ward, Sanghyuk stopped trying to conceal his anger. “Why his he here? And how did we not notice?” he asked, glancing at his friend as they hurried down the hall.

“The tracker says he’s across town, he must have found it and dumped it somewhere,” Hakyeon replied, clearly upset at the flaw in his surveillance. “I don’t have time for this right now, I'm just going to shoot him,” Sanghyuk muttered, cracking his neck and then his knuckles. “You four, with me,” he said louder, motioning at the guards standing at attention by the front door.

“Wait, you stay here and make sure the blonde kid doesn’t follow us,” Hakyeon added, stopping one of the guards as they walked outside. “He’s my age, he’s not a kid,” Sanghyuk said, glaring at Hakyeon. His friend was right though, Jaehwan would find a way to come after them, either by charming Wonshik into letting him out or hitting the doctor until he relented.

The two of them, plus the guards, walked quickly down the long driveway, stopping five feet away from the metal bars of the gate

Hongbin was leaning against Jaehwan’s car, looking very calm for someone parked right outside the headquarters of a criminal organization. His long hair was tied half up, and he was dressed nicer than Sanghyuk had ever seen him, his hands in the pockets of his pinstriped pants, black coat hanging off one shoulder.

“Leave before I shoot you,” Sanghyuk said, his voice steady in the way only a person _very_ comfortable with violence could pull off. The gamer chuckled, not moving an inch as he replied, “I’m here for my boyfriend, you don’t scare me in the slightest.”

That was what Sanghyuk hoped he would say, because it meant that he had a reason to pull his handgun from the holster concealed under his jacket. He aimed it steadily between the gamer’s eyes, but Hongbin didn’t flinch.

There was a very loud scream from inside the mansion, loud enough that it could be heard all the way out here, and it was only his years of training that stopped Sanghyuk from turning around. “That’ll be him,” the gamer said easily, a mean smile spreading across his handsome face.

“You have 30 seconds to get in the car and drive away. If you don’t, I _will_ kill you,” Sanghyuk replied, ignoring the sound of another shout, this time sounding closer. The voice was low and gruff, clearly not Jaehwan’s.

Hongbin ignored Sanghyuk, leaning a little to the side and looking past the criminal instead. The sound of two sets of running footsteps crunched across the gravel and stopped a yard or so behind Sanghyuk, or he guessed that’s where they were. He still hadn’t taken his eyes off the gamer.

“Jae, come on, we’re going home,” Hongbin called, and Sanghyuk growled under his breath, cocking his gun. _“20,”_ Hakyeon said from beside him, counting down so the criminal wouldn’t have too. It was a nice touch. Dramatic.

“Have I ever told you you’re a complete and total piece of shit?” Jaehwan’s high voice exclaimed. “On the phone, yes, and quite a few times before that,” Hongbin replied, taking a step away from the car and running his hand over the metal bars of the gate as he added, “This is a very pretty cage he’s locked you up in, babe.”

_“15,”_ Hakyeon said coolly. “Why are you counting?” Jaehwan asked, his voice going up an octave. “Because, if he doesn’t leave in,” Sanghyuk paused, allowing Hakyeon to say _“10,”_ before continuing, “Seconds, I am going to shoot him.”

“No, _Sanghyuk!_ ” Jaehwan cried, running up from where Sanghyuk guessed Wonshik had been holding him and stepping in front of the criminal. Sanghyuk wasn’t fazed, simply lifting his arm a bit higher and aiming over Jaehwan’s shoulder.

_“5.”_ Hongbin still hadn’t moved. He had clearly played so many videogames that he forgot a person only got one life in the real world. “Was our conversation last night all lies? Did you mean any of it?” Jaehwan asked desperately, putting his hands on Sanghyuk’s chest. That was a low blow, in the criminal’s opinion. He understood Jaehwan’s meaning perfectly.

“I told you I don’t let things get violent without a reason. I asked him to leave and he didn’t. Then I asked him again, and he’s still here. Also, he broke your heart and spied on you for days,” Sanghyuk replied coldly, not taking his eyes off the gamer. He knew he should have fired by now, but the gun was too close to Jaehwan’s ear. His hearing would be damaged if Sanghyuk took the shot.

“You put a tracker in both his car and mine, so we’re even in the spying department,” Hongbin said, in a mocking tone that Sanghyuk didn’t like one bit.

“You also told me that you save people. That you’re a good person. _Prove it to me_ ,” Jaehwan continued, not paying the gamer any attention and cupping Sanghyuk’s cheek, trying to tilt the criminals face down to look at him. His hacker was getting harder to ignore.

Sanghyuk did want to prove he was good, but this was not the moment. Not when he had this asshole at gun point and wanted to pull the trigger _so fucking badly_. “He hurt you, just step back and let me do my job,” the criminal replied, his voice not concealing any of the icy rage he felt, tightening his grip on the gun.

“Baby, _please_ don’t do this! I may be angry with him, but that doesn’t mean I want him dead!” Jaehwan pleaded, _frantic_ , his thumb brushing back and forth across Sanghyuk’s bottom lip and his other hand latching onto the lapel of the criminal’s jacket. 

“Wonshik, take Jaehwan back inside,” Sanghyuk snapped, and he heard the other set of footsteps approach as his hacker began to scream, wrapping his arms around the criminal’s neck so tightly that Sanghyuk almost lost his balance. The sound hurt Sanghyuk somewhere very deep inside, but he forced himself to keep his eyes on Hongbin as Wonshik’s hand’s circled Jaehwan’s waist, pulling him away.

“Jae, you need to calm down, please, it’s not good for you. Your heart,” the doctor was saying, but Sanghyuk barely heard. His head was filled with Jaehwan’s screaming. In his peripheral vision, he could see his hacker wriggling and trying to kick Wonshik, who had both arms around him and was holding him off the ground. The noise began to recede, but Sanghyuk clearly heard Jaehwan cry, _“If you kill him, I’ll die too.”_

The criminal counted to ten in his head. He wasn’t sure how far away Jaehwan was, but he was far enough.

Sanghyuk pulled the trigger, the bullet landing exactly where he aimed it.

He heard Jaehwan whimper somewhere behind him, sounding like a dog that had just been kicked, right before Wonshik shouted, “Sanghyuk!”

“Final warning,” the criminal snarled, his eyes flicking momentarily to the bullet hole in the car door, only an inch to the right of where Hongbin was standing. A second round slid into the chamber, the sound of the gunshot still echoing the otherwise quiet air.

_“Sanghyuk!”_ Wonshik shouted again. The criminal turned his head, and then spun around completely. Jaehwan’s eyes were closed, head lolling to the side, and the doctor was cradling him in his arms, looking panic stricken.

“I told you to take him inside, _go_!” Sanghyuk shouted angrily, and then returned his attention to Hongbin.

The gamer smiled, smiled in a way Sanghyuk hated. His cheeks dimpled and teeth gleamed. Turning away, Hongbin opened the car door, completely ignoring the bullet hole and getting inside. The engine roared to life, and Hongbin rolled down the window. “That was _your fault_ , not mine,” he said, saluting the criminal before hitting the gas and speeding off down the street.

\---

Hongbin was incredibly pleased with himself. That had gone exactly how he wanted it too.

He hadn’t actually expected Jaehwan to come home with him right then, Jaehwan was too stubborn for that. But this little confrontation had demonstrated just how bad of a person Sanghyuk was without Hongbin having to lift a finger. All he had to do was stand there, and the criminal had shown his true colors.

Jaehwan passing out was something Hongbin suspected would happen, and it had taken every ounce of his willpower not to just scale the gate and run to his boyfriend. He never liked seeing Jaehwan sick. It hurt him terribly.

But, on the plus side, Jaehwan said that he didn’t want Hongbin dead. That was something he had been hoping for, but not necessarily expecting. It was a pleasant surprise.

Now, all Hongbin had to do was wait. Jaehwan was smart, and he had seen the criminal nearly shoot Hongbin with his own eyes. He had heard Sanghyuk threaten Hongbin, and then had been taken away on Sanghyuk’s orders. He would understand the ease with which Sanghyuk would have killed Hongbin, in cold blood and without a second thought, if he hadn’t been there to witness it. Jaehwan was going to come back by choice, because he would fully understand who he was dealing with now.

Hongbin smiled, pressing the accelerator as he pulled onto the freeway. That had been child’s play, _honestly._

\---

“Why didn’t you keep him inside like I told you too? He’s a fucking liability in that kind of situation!” Sanghyuk hissed, staring daggers at the back of Wonshik’s head.

“He took off when he saw that guy outside! You know the ward faces onto the driveway, why did you think leaving him with me was a good idea if you were going to pull a gun on someone right outside the window?!” Wonshik replied, with just as much frustration.

Hakyeon swung the door to the medical ward open, holding it for the doctor and Sanghyuk before following them in. Wonshik stomped over to deposit the unconscious Jaehwan on one of the empty beds, before turning to attend to a guard already waiting there.

“What happened to you? Wonshik, did you hit him?” Hakyeon asked incredulously, as the doctor began inspecting the guards face. “Not him, that twink broke my fucking nose,” the guard hissed, Sanghyuk suddenly recognizing him as the one Hakyeon had told to watch the door.

“Yeah, after you called him _little boy_ and told him to go back to his room,” Wonshik snapped, doing something to the guard’s nose that made him cry out in pain. “There, I set it. It will take a few weeks to heal, but you’ll live,” Wonshik continued, stomping over to his supply cabinet for bandages and then the freezer for an ice pack.

Sanghyuk _bristled_. “Take a day off to take care of your face, and then report to my office first thing in the morning. I do _not_ tolerate insults directed at my colleagues,” the criminal said coldly, scowling at the guard as Wonshik finished patching him up. The doctor handed him a small bottle of what Sanghyuk assumed were pain killers and then sent him away. He would most likely fire the guard, but Jaehwan _had_ punched him, so they were sort of even. Still, it wouldn’t do to have his men being rude to his friends.

“How did Jaehwan break that guy’s nose? He’s huge and Jaehwan doesn’t look strong enough to tear a piece of paper,” Hakyeon asked, going over to the sick bed and peering down at Jaehwan’s steadily bruising hand. “He hasn’t hit you yet, he’s stronger than he looks,” Sanghyuk replied, wincing at the memory of the hackers’ smacks, before adding, “Also, he seemed pretty pissed.”

“No shit, he was pissed! That was the boyfriend, I’m assuming?” Wonshik replied, not sounding any less angry than before. He was kneeling beside the hacker, holding his wrist and dabbing Jaehwan’s forehead with a cool cloth. “Yeah, he’s a dick,” Sanghyuk snapped, already regretting not shooting Hongbin so he could be done with this whole mess.

“And you were just going to kill him? In front of Jaehwan?” Wonshik asked, his tone sounding _very_ judgmental. “Jaehwan wasn’t supposed to be there! You were supposed to keep him here! If you had, this wouldn’t have happened!” Sanghyuk replied sharply, sitting on the foot of the bed.

“Go get an icepack for his hand, and don’t try to pin this on me!” Wonshik snapped, glaring at the criminal and waving vaguely at the freezer. “He didn’t pass out until you fired! We couldn’t see that you had shot the car, he thought you murdered his boyfriend!”

“Ex-boyfriend,” Sanghyuk corrected, not particularly caring that he sounded harsh. “Even so, Jaehwan was _begging_ you, Sanghyuk, _begging_ you not to do it! Could you hear what he was crying? That he would never believe you were good if you did it? That he would hate you? And you just ignored him!”

“I didn’t ignore him! You saw the fucker drive away, I didn’t touch him! Killing people isn’t new territory for you, it’s kind of our whole deal! Why are you freaking out so much?” Sanghyuk exclaimed, glaring at the doctor as he gently held the icepack against Jaehwan’s hand, crouching on the opposite side of bed.

“Because, for the _last fucking time_ , Jaehwan’s body cannot handle that much stress! He’s already working himself harder than he should be for your insane Yakuza project, and I really don’t want him to die! I’m making progress with the treatment, but very slowly, and certainly not fast enough for him to be able to handle you killing his loved ones, whether he’s angry at them or not.” Wonshik replied exasperatedly, lifting one of the hacker’s eyelids and shining a light at his pupil.

“Are you going to give him one of those shots again to wake him up?” Hakyeon asked, like he hadn’t noticed that Sanghyuk and Wonshik were arguing. “I can’t, his heartrate is already elevated too much, even now. It would most likely just send his body into shock, and I don’t want to risk it. We just have to wait for him to come around on his own,” the doctor replied, pulling the blanket at the foot of the bed over Jaehwan and tucking him in.

The urge to fight left Sanghyuk in a sudden rush, he felt unreasonably tired. He pulled out his phone to check the time, but he was instantly distracted by his lock screen. The photo if himself and Jaehwan still made that joy bubble up in the pit of his stomach, but it was now tinged with guilt. Jaehwan’s panicked screams echoed inside his skull.

“Oh wow, that’s _new_ ,” Hakyeon said from behind him, Sanghyuk continued staring at his phone as his friend asked, “Are you guys a couple now? Is that why you got so angry?” The criminal saw Wonshik look up out of the corner of his eye.

“No. We just have matching phone backgrounds, it’s stupid,” Sanghyuk replied, pocketing his phone again and covering his face with both hands. He felt Hakyeon squeeze his shoulder, but he shrugged his friend off.

“I have work to finish, call me as soon as he wakes up,” Sanghyuk said quietly, kissing Jaehwan’s forehead and standing up. He left the medical ward before anyone could ask him more questions that he had no satisfactory answers for.

\---

**You:**

**Computer Boy #1:**

_‘Tell Hongbin that If he ever shows up at the compound again, I will kill him, and I don’t give a shit what Jaehwan says. He is not welcome here.’_

_‘Hello to you too! He already told me you threatened him at gunpoint, I don’t actually think he wants to come back.’_

_‘Good, Jaehwan passing out was his fault, no matter what he thinks. If he hadn’t come here in the first place, my employee would still be conscious.’_

_‘From what Hongbin said, it sounded like Jaehwanie is a little more than just your employee, what with him calling you baby and everything.’_

_‘Will you tell Hongbin or not?’_

_‘Did he make you take cute pictures yet? Lemme see!’_

_‘Why are you ignoring me?’_

_‘You know I can remotely hack your phone and look at them, so just send them to me. It will make both of our lives easier :D’_

_‘You’re the worst kind of asshole.’_

_*Attachment Sent*_

_*Attachment Sent*_

_‘AWWWWWE you two are precious!!!!! Binnie is going to punch a wall when he sees these!’_

_‘I don’t give a shit. Will you just tell him?’_

_‘Why is everyone being so fucking difficult today?!’_

_‘Yessssss I’ll tell him! You can trust me!’_

_‘Don’t think I can, actually.’_

_‘Hurtful!’_

_‘Jaehwanie takes it like a dream, doesn’t he ;)’_

_‘Shut up before I fire you. Only warning.’_

_‘Sorry sorry! Just kidding > <‘_

_‘Did Jaehwanie like the snacks I picked for him? I bet he did, I know him too well to get his favorite foods wrong.’_

_‘Yes, but you forgot Cheeto’s. And he may like the food, but he no longer likes you.’_

_‘FUCKING CHEETOS’_

_‘And he’s never liked me, I don’t really like him either. Love is a mysterious thing.’_

_‘I honestly don’t give a shit about your past, Seokjin, I just wish he wasn’t so sick.’_

_‘Uhg I know, dealing with his fits is exhausting, isn’t it? You poor thing! I have no clue how Binnie puts up with it, Jaehwanie is a lot worse now than when we were dating, and I couldn’t handle it even then!’_

_‘What do you mean, he’s worse?’_

_‘I meeeeean, my silly boss, that he was still getting regular treatment at the hospital and taking a lot more medication, so he didn’t pass out half as much as he does now.’_

_‘We met when he was 16 and I was 18, didn’t he tell you? He didn’t ditch his doctors until two years later, and by the time he turned 19 I couldn’t handle it anymore. He had gotten too sick, and he wouldn’t take his meds because they “weren’t helping and he was going to die anyway, so there was no point”. They were helping, just not as much as he wanted.’_

_‘Wait, you mean he was almost cured and then gave up?’_

_‘No, no. It was more like… the meds were helping with his symptoms, but they couldn’t prevent the inevitable. Jaehwanie wanted a more finite solution, and the pills he was taking made him really tired all the time. He didn’t like it. A hot mess of depression and stress, that boy.’_

_‘Honestly, if he had stayed on them, I probably wouldn’t have dumped him. But the past is the past. Binnie is good for him, they got together like a month after we ended, and he’s never minded Jaehwan’s fits.’_

_‘Was* good for him. They broke up’_

_‘Yeah, yeah, whatever.’_

_‘They “break up” like once a month, whenever Jaehwanie feels too guilty about the fact that he’s dying. Binnie’s always there for him though, nothing ever actually happens.’_

_*Read*_

_‘Don’t leave me on read!’_

_‘Anyway, give Jaehwanie a get-well-soon kiss for me, and get him Chocopies for when he wakes up, he likes that.’_

_*Read*_

_\- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -_

**You:**

**Thugyeon:**

_‘Buy some Chocopies, ASAP’_

_‘Craving sugar?’_

_‘No, for Jae.’_

_‘Ahh, got it. I’ll pick some up on my way home, I’m about to talk to that “Pharmacist” you told me about. Cross your fingers that he’s not a total dick!’_

**Chapter 10: The Hostility**   
**Summary:**

**“Say my name. Not baby, not murderer, my name.”**

_ The Hostility: _

“Is he online shopping in a fucking coma?” Sanghyuk nearly shouted, his volume making Wonshik groan.

His friend had banged on his bedroom door at, god, what time _was_ it, 5:30 in the morning? Some ungodly hour, Wonshik was sure. He squinted at the fully dressed Sanghyuk, who was standing just inside his room and holding a giant box with the word ‘Nordstrom’ on it under one arm.

“Look! It says Lee Jaehwan!” his friend continued, getting even louder if that was possible. “I know he likes to buy stuff from American stores, but how is he shopping when he’s-”

“Sanghyuk, _please_ shut up. I am going back to sleep and so should you,” Wonshik mumbled, but his friend ignored him and walked past the doctor, starting to pace back and forth across the room.

“When is he going to wake up from his stupid coma? I want to ask him how he did it,” Sanghyuk snapped, laying the box on the foot of Wonshik’s bed as he stomped passed it. “He’s not in a coma, he’s only been out for two days. His body needs time to recover, you’re overreacting,” Wonshik replied drowsily, crossing his arms and shutting his eyes. He was still standing by the door, but it didn’t seem like Sanghyuk was leaving any time soon.

“He probably ordered whatever it is before the whole thing,” the doctor added, an afterthought. His brain was taking longer than normal to reason things out. “I’m going to open it, I _have too_ ,” Sanghyuk said, as if he couldn’t hear Wonshik at all.

“That’s mail fraud,” Wonshik replied, squinting as his friend glared at him and asked, “Does it look like I give a fuck?” Sanghyuk pulled his switchblade out of his pocket and began slicing through the tape sealing the package with a ferocity that was mildly alarming. Once it was nearly torn to shreds, Sanghyuk looked inside the box and barked out a laugh. Just one syllable. Just _‘Ha’_.

“It’s fucking clothes. I don’t know what I was expecting, of course its clothes!” he exclaimed, shoving the box onto the floor and collapsing face first on Wonshik’s bed.

“Either go to sleep, or I’m spiking your food with sleeping pills. You haven’t slept in two days, and your mental state is seriously worrying me,” the doctor said, curling up on the armchair by the window since his bed was now occupied. “Jaehwan is sleeping enough for both of us!” was his friends very unsatisfactory reply.

“Wake him up. Give him that crazy shot thing like last time, and do it now! I’m sick of waiting for him to wake up on his own!” Sanghyuk continued, standing back up so fast that it made Wonshik’s head spin just watching.

“No, we’ve been over this,” the doctor said, trying to not to sound as frustrated as he was. “Do it right now, or I’m going to do it myself,” Sanghyuk snapped, coming to stand right in front of Wonshik’s armchair and looking the textbook definition of menacing.

Realizing that his friend was just sleep deprived enough to make good on that threat, and that Sanghyuk would mess it up if he tried, the doctor sighed loudly. “If he dies, it’s your fault, not mine. Just so we’re clear,” Wonshik grumbled, pushing himself to his feet and stomping out of his bedroom, Sanghyuk close on his heels with the box of clothes back under his arm.

The medical ward was only one door away, Wonshik had chosen this bedroom specifically to be close to his patients at all times, so the journey was a short one. The large room was dim, a single light on by his desk, the first rays of sunlight starting to trickle in through the window shades.

“I’m going to give him an _extremely_ diluted dose, only about an eighth of what I gave him last time. If it does wake him up, he won’t be all bouncy and hyper like before. It’s more like a nudge to get him going,” Wonshik said, starting to feel a bit more awake.

Jaehwan’s sickbed was nearly obscured from the doctors’ view as he began filling the syringe. The area around it was littered with vases of flowers in every color and variety, baskets of Chocopies and other assorted snacks, and there was a silver necklace with a charm the shape of a ghost that had little ‘g’s for eyes hanging off the bed post. The newest addition was an enormous stuffed puppy that had been tucked under one of the hacker’s arms.

“I get that you’re trying to lure Jaehwan back to consciousness by surrounding him with things he likes, but I still find this a bit excessive,” Wonshik muttered, going over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Sanghyuk was responsible for all the clutter, stopping in every few hours to leave offerings to Jaehwan’s sleeping form. Well, most of it. A bouquet of white jasmine had been delivered to the mansion the day after the confrontation. Luckily, they had arrived while Sanghyuk was out breaking someone’s arms or doing something equally distasteful, and Wonshik had put them on the nightstand. He hadn’t missed the little card that read, _‘Wake up, smart mouth’_ with a little heart drawn on in red ink, and he had concealed it under the vase so Sanghyuk wouldn’t see it. The doctor guessed it they were from the boyfriend, they could be from Seokjin but Wonshik had met the coder on several occasions and he didn’t think so.

“He’s going to be furious at me when he wakes up, so maybe these will appease him a little,” Sanghyuk mumbled, sitting cross legged on the floor beside the bed and resting his chin on the mattress. Wonshik just shrugged.

As he was wiping an alcohol swab over the inside of Jaehwan’s arm, Sanghyuk asked, “Did he ever tell you about the medicine he used to take? For that matter, has he told you whether or not he’s been taking his med’s since he got here?”

That was the first Wonshik had heard of any medicine. “No, he hasn’t said anything. And his medical records are sealed so I haven’t had a way to look at them. I’ve just been going off my own examinations and what Seokjin told me, and he never mentioned any medication either,” the doctor replied, lining up the tip of the needle with Jaehwan’s vein.

“Hongbin mentioned them when I picked Jae up, but he’s been in my room most nights and I haven’t seen him take anything. And I didn’t see any pill bottles last time I was in his guest room,” Sanghyuk said, trailing his finger over the knuckles of Jaehwan’s left hand.

“If he’s stopped taking his medication, that’s really not good. I’ll ask him when he wakes up. Just remember, there’s only a 50/50 shot of this working, and if it doesn’t, it’s not my fault,” Wonshik repeated, before injecting the diluted adrenaline.

“Give it a second, and press this against his arm,” the doctor said, letting Sanghyuk hold the square of gauze as he went to dispose of the needle. He could hear his friend mumbling “Wake up, wake up, wake up,” under his breath.

After about a minute of nothing, the criminal and the doctor sitting on opposite corners of the hacker’s bed, waiting, the rhythm of Jaehwan’s breathing changed.

He snuffled a little, his nose scrunching up and head turning to one side. “It worked!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, and then was immediately shushed by Wonshik as Jaehwan’s eyes slowly opened.

He was facing the doctor and smiled sleepily as Wonshik peered into his eyes. “Good morning, how do you feel?” Wonshik asked, making his voice as soothing as he could. “Groggy, how long was I out?” Jaehwan mumbled, reaching blindly behind him, trying to find what the doctor assumed was his phone. Sanghyuk captured the hacker’s hand with this own, dotting kisses all over the back of it and sighing in relief, as Wonshik replied, “Two days.”

Jaehwan turned his head the other way and then screamed, voice breaking from disuse as he snatched his hand back. Sanghyuk looked completely stunned as Jaehwan scooted away from him, almost falling onto Wonshik’s lap and clinging to the doctor for dear life. His friends’ hand was still held out, palm up, in front of him. It was like his programing had glitched.

The hacker’s scream had turned to sobs, his face buried in the crook of Wonshik’s neck and long legs around the doctor’s middle like a koala. Wonshik felt as surprised as Sanghyuk looked, but he began petting the back of Jaehwan’s hair as he asked, “What’s the matter? Does something hurt?”

“Don’t touch me, _murderer!_ Don’t come near me!” Jaehwan sobbed, and Wonshik saw Sanghyuk’s eyelids flutter, swallowing hard. “You killed Binnie! You killed him! I ha-hate you! I hate you, I want to go home!”

“Breathe, Jae, your boyfriend is fine,” Wonshik said softly, giving Sanghyuk and apologetic look as he hugged the hacker against him. Jaehwan’s first words hadn’t been wrong, Sanghyuk was a murderer, but just not in this case.

And expression of pure heartbreak crossed Sanghyuk’s face when Jaehwan whimpered, “I don’t believe you.” Wonshik had been half expecting a reaction like this, but he hadn’t been ready for the force of Jaehwan’s grief. He thought the hacker would be angry at Sanghyuk, not scared of him. He had been wrong.

“Show him the footage from the security cameras if he wants to see it, and then he needs to work on my project. We’re behind schedule. I’m going to take a nap,” Sanghyuk said, his manner changing to cold blankness as he stood up. The criminal smoothed down the front of his suit jacket, and he grabbed a Chocopie on his way out.

Not knowing what else to do, Wonshik continued comforting the hacker, murmuring quietly that _“Everything’s ok,”_ and _“Hongbin is alive.”_ The doctor felt bad for Sanghyuk, and even worse for Jaehwan, but being able to hold him like this still made Wonshik’s heart flutter. The idea that Jaehwan thought of him as safe, believed Wonshik would protect him, it was wonderful. And it was true.

“Sanghyuk only shot the car, I promise. Do you want to see the tape?” Wonshik asked, once Jaehwan’s tears had slowed to a trickle. The hacker nodded, but didn’t loosen his grip, so the doctor gently lifted him up and carried him over to the desk.

Wonshik already had one of Hakyeon’s tablets in here, having watched the footage over and over again as he waited for Jaehwan to come around. He didn’t understand what the point of the whole thing was in the first place. Hongbin had shown up, stood there, and then left. He didn’t try to get Jaehwan out, didn’t curse or fight, and then gone without sparing his boyfriend a glance. It was really weird, in the doctors’ opinion.

He sat down on his large desk chair, Jaehwan’s knees on either side of him, his fingers laced together behind Wonshik’s neck for support as he settled back on the doctors’ thighs. Wonshik rewound the footage to the beginning and then pressed play.

They watched the silent screen, first Sanghyuk pulling his gun, then the two of them running into the frame, Jaehwan begging and then Wonshik carrying him away towards the mansion. Jaehwan’s breathing faltered as he saw Sanghyuk fire, watching himself go limp before the doctor scooped him into his arms, Sanghyuk spin around and then Hongbin get into the car.

“Where- give me your phone,” Jaehwan said hastily, feeling around inside the doctors’ pockets as Wonshik set the tablet back on his desk. His skin tingled against the fabric of his clothes where Jaehwan’s fingers pressed. The hacker found his phone and pulled it out, dialing a number from memory and holding it against his ear. He was close enough that Wonshik could hear his boyfriends deep voice through the speaker as he said,

_“Hello?”_

_“Binnie, tell me you’re ok!”_

_“Hey baby, you finally woke up!”_

_“Yes, I’m up, but are you ok? You’re not hurt?”_

_“I’m totally fine, and I’m getting your car door fixed. How do you feel baby? You were out for a while.”_

_“You scared the hell out of me! Why did you come here? Were you trying to get yourself killed, you stupid fucking maniac?!”_

Wonshik heard the boyfriend laugh, before he replied, _“I wanted to see you, I miss you. I’m sorry I scared you, baby. Did you get my flowers or did that fucker throw them away?”_

Jaehwan looked quizzically at Wonshik, and he pointed over to the bed.

_“Which ones? There are like a million flowers here for some reason.”_

_“White jasmine, your favorite.”_

_“Oh,”_ Jaehwan breathed, sliding off the doctors’ lap and walking over to inspect the bouquet.

_“They’re beautiful, thanks. I have to go, work to do.”_

_“Ok, baby, don’t forget to take your meds. I love you.”_

Jaehwan hung up without replying.

“Who are the rest of these from? I don’t have _nearly_ this many friends,” Jaehwan asked, peering around at the other bouquets and assorted snacks. “Sanghyuk, he’s kind of been losing it since he feels so guilty,” Wonshik replied, standing up and going to retrieve the card he had hidden.

“I snuck the ones from your boyfriend in, don’t tell him. He’d probably be pissed,” he continued, handing the little card to Jaehwan and smiling conspiratorially. “He’s not- never mind. Thanks for taking care of me,” the hacker replied, folding the paper up and holding it over his heart for a moment before sliding it in between the flowers, the leaves obscuring it from view.

“He really didn’t hurt Binnie, did he?” Jaehwan asked quietly, only sniffling a little now and bending down to rummage through his box of new clothes. “No, he didn’t. He listened to you, just probably not in the way you had expected him too. Simply walking away would have hurt his pride,” Wonshik replied, patting the top of Jaehwan’s platinum head. He re-tied the strings that had come loose at the neck of the hacker’s hospital gown, half wishing that he was untying the other bows instead.

“I should probably shower, and then apologize right?” Jaehwan asked, picking up the stuffed puppy and hugging it with one arm as he prodded the necklace hanging off the headboard. “Probably, Sanghyuk looked really hurt. He was so worried about you,” Wonshik replied, unwrapping a Chocopie and handing it to the hacker as he added, “And you have to eat. Lots.”

\---

Sanghyuk had smoked several cigarettes, he stopped counting at three, and then stripped off his suit the moment he entered his bedroom, dropping pieces of it on the floor as he made his way into his closet.

Jaehwan was scared of him. Horrified. Jaehwan hated him. Hated him for something he hadn’t even done. Called him ‘murderer’. Had jumped into Wonshik’s arms like the doctor could shelter him.

As if Wonshik would have been able to stop Sanghyuk if he had actually wanted to hurt Jaehwan, hurt anyone. He’d get his fucking head kicked in and he knew it. His hands on Jaehwan’s waist, touching his soft blonde hair. Wonshik had known exactly what he was doing, Sanghyuk had seen how stupidly happy he looked with Jaehwan on his lap, crying or not. He was the worst friend on the whole god damn planet.

Unable to control his frustration for a moment longer, Sanghyuk hit one of the shelves in his closet, fist flat across the top, and he snarled as it cracked in half. Sweaters spilled onto the floor as the broken pieces of wood crashed down to the shelf below. It was oddly satisfying. The same way that punching someone who had it coming was satisfying.

He didn’t cry. He had done his share of crying, sitting alone in his empty bath tub, the night of the confrontation. He had felt so much guilt, it was an unfamiliar emotion for the criminal. Guilt for making Jaehwan sicker. Guilt for pushing him away. Guilt for, even now, wanting to drive to their apartment building and shoot that smug prick in his stupid, handsome face. He wouldn’t cry again.

Getting attached to Jaehwan had been a mistake. A really huge mistake. Sanghyuk pulled out his phone, not sparing his lock screen a glance as he clicked to the settings and changed it. Pitch black. Empty. Just like his fucking heart.

He dropped his phone on the plushily carpeted floor, ignoring the broken shelf and peeling out of the rest of his clothes before walking into his en suite bathroom. Cold, he told himself, remain cold and detached. Always.

The hot spray of the shower rolled across Sanghyuk’s back, soothing his tensed muscles only slightly as he ran his fingers through his quickly dampening hair. He wanted a good nap and a good fuck. Where was Hakyeon when he needed him?

He shut his eyes, just standing there and letting the water run over him. Doing his best to let any unprofessional feelings he had for the hacker wash down the drain.

“Baby?” a high voice called from the bathroom door, and Sanghyuk gritted his teeth. “I need a shower and I thought it would be nicer to take one with you.”

He heard the muffled sound of Jaehwan’s bare feet slapping against the marble floor as he approached. The criminal slit his eyes open. Jaehwan had put those vile red sweats on again, the hem of his overly large hospital gown hanging at his knees. He looked like a doll that someone had played a confusing game of dress up with.

“Get out,” Sanghyuk hissed, just as Jaehwan said, “I’m sorry.”

“I really am sorry. I know what I called you was super hurtful, and I won’t make excuses for it, but thank you for listening to me... before,” Jaehwan continued, cracking the shower door open and sticking his arm inside, poking Sanghyuk’s flat stomach.

Not caring what he was doing, not thinking it through, Sanghyuk grabbed the hacker’s forearm and pulled him roughly him into the shower.

Jaehwan gasped as the water soaked him, his lips parted in surprise and the thin white cotton of his gown turning transparent. “Baby, I really am so, so sorry.”

Anger and frustration flowed through Sanghyuk’s veins, and his large hand was wrapped around Jaehwan’s throat before he realized what he was doing. He walked forwards a few steps, so the hacker’s back was to the wall, not squeezing, just holding Jaehwan against the icy marble as he snarled, “Say my name. Not _baby_ , not _murderer_ , my name.”

_“Sanghyuk,”_ Jaehwan breathed, water droplets falling from the blonde hair plastered to his forehead. His roots had started growing out at some point, Sanghyuk noticed, a little hint of dark brown on his hairline. It didn’t make the hacker look any less perfect.

“Say it again,” the criminal growled, and Jaehwan did. He lifted his hand, barely grazing Sanghyuk’s cheek before the criminal grabbed it, letting go of Jaehwan’s throat and spinning him around. His pale chest, now visible through the wet gown, pressed to the marble wall. Sanghyuk couldn’t stand looking at his pretty face for a second longer.

“Aren’t you scared of me?” he asked, holding both Jaehwan’s narrow wrists in one hand and yanking the hacker’s hair. Not gentle or playful, but like he wanted to rip it out at the coffee colored roots.

“No,” Jaehwan replied, the single word following a soft whine. Sanghyuk didn’t believe him. “Why not? I kill people for a living,” he purred, bending down so his mouth was right beside Jaehwan’s pointy ear, feeling the hacker shiver.

“That’s not all you do,” Jaehwan said quietly, his breath coming heavier as the criminal ran his teeth over the nape of his neck.

“What else do I do? Hurt people? Cripple them? Bankrupt them?” Sanghyuk asked, lightly scratching his nails down the side of the hacker’s torso.

“Spare them,” Jaehwan whimpered, not moving a muscle as Sanghyuk slowly untied the bows holing his hospital gown together. 

The criminal released Jaehwan’s wrists, pushing the gown off his shoulders so it puddled on the shower floor at his feet. “Only when there’s something I can gain from it,” Sanghyuk purred, running his thumbs under the waistband of Jaehwan’s sweatpants. The fabric was sopping wet, sticking to his skin.

“I’m going to burn these,” he whispered, sliding the pants down the hacker’s long legs, nipping at his ass cheek as he tossed them to the side. Jaehwan yelped, but he didn’t move as Sanghyuk stood back up.

The criminal noticed a fine silver chain around Jaehwan’s neck, previously hidden under the gown, and he peered around to see it was the stupid ghost necklace. “This is garbage. It was the nicest thing I could find at the Gucci store, and its still revolting,” Sanghyuk said, making his voice smooth as he wrapped his fingers around the pendant, yanking hard enough that the chain snapped.

The hacker whimpered, turning his head and watching Sanghyuk drop the broken piece of jewelry on top of the pile of wet clothes. “I thought it was cute,” Jaehwan replied forlornly, making Sanghyuk chuckle darkly. “Of course, you did. You have terrible taste.”

Tired of talking, the criminal fisted Jaehwan’s hair, tugging his head backwards and using the water for lubrication as he slid his finger into Jaehwan’s entrance. His hacker moaned breathily as Sanghyuk very quickly added a second, thrusting them in and out and watching Jaehwan’s eyelids flutter.

He scissored them open and closed, mouthing the side of his hacker’s neck. Adding a third and moving them faster, he roughly yanked Jaehwan’s blonde locks, pressing the hacker’s body against the wall with his own.

Jaehwan yelped when Sanghyuk hooked his fingers, brushing the hacker’s prostate. He felt Jaehwan start to tremble, and deciding that he had done enough prep, Sanghyuk nudged his hacker’s legs further apart and slid his fingers out, thrusting his cock in instead.

“You can be rough, I know- I know you want to be. I can take it,” Jaehwan mumbled, his breathing shallow as he let his head drop back on Sanghyuk’s shoulder. “I know you can,” the criminal purred softly, pulling almost all the way out before snapping his hips forwards.

Sanghyuk didn’t ask his hacker if he was hurting him. He was still so angry that, in the moment, he didn’t care. Jaehwan’s palms were flat against the shower wall, his fingertips twitching, gasping each time the criminal thrust into him.

He held Jaehwan’s hips in place, hot water still falling across Sanghyuk’s back as he fucked into him. Jaehwan’s walls clenched around him, the feeling so tight that Sanghyuk groaned under his breath.

This was not romantic. It was almost clinical. The way he would fuck a complete stranger. That’s essentially what he was doing, actually. He didn’t know Jaehwan very well at all, and his hacker certainly didn’t know him.

Jaehwan mewled as the criminal nudged his head off his shoulder, pushing his face forward so the hacker’s cheek rested against the marble. Sanghyuk brushed his thumb over one of the dimples on Jaehwan’s lower back, just above the curve of his ass. He vaguely remembered them being called ‘Dimples of Venus’. They were lovely, he hadn’t noticed them last time.

The criminal picked up his pace, fucking into him hard enough that Jaehwan’s already high voice crested in a scream. His hacker’s spine arched, breath reduced to rapid panting, as he cried, “Baby, baby, _baby!”_

“I told you to say my fucking name,” Sanghyuk growled, fisting Jaehwan’s hair again and pushing his face harder against the wall. “Sang-Sanghyuk _please_ ,” the hacker sobbed, wriggling in the criminal’s grip and reaching his hand back. The tip of a finger brushed Sanghyuk’s bottom lip.

The criminal’s mind flashed back, Jaehwan in his arms, begging just like how he was now, the solid weight of a gun in his hand.

Sanghyuk shook the memory off, shoving Jaehwan’s hand away before spanking him as hard as he could. Jaehwan’s gasp was quickly followed by another when Sanghyuk slapped his overly ample ass again.

Somewhere in the back of his head, the criminal wished Jaehwan was still unconscious, so this could have gone differently. That he had woken up to Sanghyuk’s lips against his, like a fairytale, instead of a needle in him arm. That Jaehwan had looked to him for comfort, not Wonshik. That his hacker had called him ‘baby’, ‘darling’, or ‘love’, not ‘murderer’.

More than anything, he wished Seokjin had recommended someone else for this job, and that he would have never met Jaehwan in the first place. If he hadn’t, then maybe the sight of the hacker’s tears mixing with the steaming shower water wouldn’t make him feel so sick.

Jaehwan was still crying out, his words running together, unintelligible, as they spilled out of his mouth, echoing off the marble walls. His eyes shut tight and color high on his cheeks, bangs stuck to his forehead.

“You’re driving me _insane,_ ” Sanghyuk said under his breath, nibbling on Jaehwan’s earlobe as he pulled back and then snapped his hips forwards again, Jaehwan’s words cutting off with a whimper.

Sanghyuk came then, growling softly and holding his hacker against him, breath heavy. Jaehwan went very tense, and the criminal felt him cum, one hand over his eyes and the other in a fist as sobs wracked his slim body.

He pulled out, letting Jaehwan slump to the ground next to his pile of wet clothes, and quickly rinsed himself off. “Clean yourself up, and then get to work,” Sanghyuk said coldly, leaving the shower running and stepping out, wrapping a towel around his waist.

When the criminal left his bathroom, he grabbed a pair of boxers from his dresser and slipped into them, towel drying his hair as he walked over to his bed. There was a black cashmere quarter-zip sitting on the fluffy comforter, a dark navy button down with uniform black stripes folded on top of it. He had no memory of purchasing either item, despite them being exactly his style, and then he saw the folded sheet of printer paper beside them. He snatched it up and read:

_‘Sanghyukkie-_

_I thought you would look super handsome in this, not that you don’t look handsome already. I ordered them a few days ago, thanks for opening the box for me, I hope you didn’t see! It would ruin the surprise! Anyway, I just wanted to give you something as a thank you. You proved to me that you’re a good person. I believe you._

_\- Your Sweetheart’_

Sanghyuk winced. The paper had little hearts drawn all over it, Jaehwan’s loopy scrawl rolling across the page in green ink, probably one of the pens Wonshik used for his record keeping. And the signature, _your sweetheart_.

The full force of what he had just done hit Sanghyuk like a train. His anger evaporated, replaced with a feeling of self-hatred so strong that he nearly lost his breath. Jaehwan had written that Sanghyuk had proved himself to be good, but he had just proven the opposite. His hacker had been unconscious not even an hour ago, and Sanghyuk had fucked him until he couldn’t stand up.

He was physically unable to bring himself to go back into the bathroom and comfort Jaehwan. Be soft with him. Not after the note. Not while he felt bile burning the back of his throat.

Sanghyuk picked up his gifts, setting them on top of his dresser since he didn’t want to face his mess of a closet right now, and then crawled into bed. The note was still clutched tight in one hand as he dozed off. He never heard Jaehwan leave, but he did hear him start to cry in earnest.

**Chapter 11: The Infatuation**   
**Summary:**

**Jaehwan handed the phone back to Wonshik, scowling at the doctor as he said, “If anything, that probably made it worse.”**

_ The Infatuation:  _

“Your boyfriend won’t stop texting me and it’s getting on my nerves,” Wonshik exclaimed, walking into Jaehwan’s workroom with his phone held out in front of him like it had a disease.

“You’re preaching to the choir, sister. Why do you think I smashed my phone?” Jaehwan asked, looking up from his computer and grinning. He had been working for three days straight, even though his boss was nowhere to be found, and the hacker had made huge progress with his project. It was nearly ready to start.

“Will you talk to him? Please? Or give him your new number at least? For the sake of my mental health?” Wonshik asked, looking so pitiful that it made Jaehwan laugh. He slid off his comfy desk chair and took the phone. “Have you replied to him at all?” the hacker asked, scrolling up through the message thread.

The doctor sighed, burdened. “Yes, I told him that I wasn’t you. But then, he asked who I was and when I told him I was the doctor currently treating you, he started flooding me with questions! It’s like I’m texting your mom or something!”

“Trust me, my actual mom is worse. Binnie is just a bit over protective, he cares,” Jaehwan replied, scanning the texts and smiling. “I’ll tell him to leave you alone, but he’s not getting my number.”

Jaehwan tapped on the message bar and began to type.

**You:**

_‘Binnie, it’s Jaehwan. Please stop harassing my doctor.’_

**Jae’s Crazy Boyfriend:**

_‘How do I know it’s actually you?’_

Jaehwan huffed out a breath, opening the camera and putting it in selfie mode. He made his signature ‘I will end you’ face.

**You:**

_*Attachment Sent*_

**Jae’s Crazy Boyfriend:**

_‘Looking stunning, as always’_

_‘Knock it off, my doctor literally begged me to tell you to stop.’_

_‘But I want to know how you’re doing! He told me about the new treatment, how do you feel? Are you still taking your other meds?’_

_‘Yes, I am still taking them, and the treatment is working really well. Now go away!’_

_‘Well, you aren’t answering your phone, how else am I supposed to find out what’s happening!? Did you change your number?’_

_‘Yes, and you aren’t getting it. Good bye!’_

_‘No wait! Baby, talk to me!’_

Jaehwan handed the phone back to Wonshik, scowling at the doctor as he said, “If anything, that probably made it worse.”

“And change his contact name, it should say ex-boyfriend,” Jaehwan added, returning to his desk and plopping back down in his giant chair. “Oh my god! He’s just texting your name and question marks now!” Wonshik exclaimed, his phone dining repeatedly. Jaehwan smiled to himself, glancing at the vase of white jasmine on his desk. Hongbin was _such_ a drama queen.

“Go cry to Sanghyuk about it, he’ll probably cut off Binnie’s fingers and give you some peace,” Jaehwan said. He meant it as a joke, and Wonshik knew that. “You’re forgetting about text-to-speech,” the doctor groaned, making Jaehwan chuckle. “Where _is_ our sweet, even tempered boss anyway? I haven’t seen him in days.”

It had taken Jaehwan a while to regain the ability to stand after his and Sanghyuk’s shower session. He wasn’t angry with the criminal, Sanghyuk was a very physical person and Jaehwan knew his words had hurt the criminal deeply. He understood that Sanghyuk had just been working off his emotions, and even though it was rough, the sex was still fucking incredible.

When he finally left the bathroom, he had seen Sanghyuk sleeping, the covers tucked up under his chin and the note Jaehwan had wrote held tightly in his hand. He’d looked so sweet, damp hair leaving wet spots across his pillowcase and mouth slightly open. Jaehwan sincerely hoped Sanghyuk wasn’t still angry with him, but if his absence was any indication, he was.

“He and Hakyeon have been running a bunch of errands, I’ve hardly seen them either,” Wonshik replied, his phone still dinging away. “Well, when you do see him, tell him to come talk to me. And remind him I hate sleeping alone,” Jaehwan said, pulling up his HTML window and starting to type.

“Yes, I’m very aware you don’t like sleeping alone. When I woke up this morning and saw you on the foot of my bed, I nearly had a heart attack!” Wonshik replied, giving the hacker a bemused look.

That was another unfortunate consequence of Sanghyuk’s absence. Jaehwan had been unable to fall asleep in his chilly guestroom, even when hugging his new stuffed puppy, christened Satang, and surrounded by the flowers the criminal had bought. Jaehwan had Wonshik help move all of them all into his guestroom, and they did brighten up the atmosphere but didn’t lessen Jaehwan’s loneliness.

He had tried sleeping with the lights on, then with a heating pad, but both were unsuccessful. Last night, he had resorted to drastic measures. He knew where the doctor’s bedroom was, and once everyone else was asleep, Jaehwan had snuck in and curled up on the foot of Wonshik’s bed like a cat, bringing his own comforter with him and managing not to wake the sleeping doctor. It had helped a bit, at least he had been able to hear Wonshik’s breathing.

“I repeat, go cry to Sanghyuk about it. Otherwise, that’s where I’m going to sleep every single night,” Jaehwan said, flashing the doctor his most sugary smile. “I don’t care about you staying in my room, but you could at least cuddle with me! I don’t need a foot warmer,” Wonshik replied, giving Jaehwan a very dirty look and slipping his still dining phone into his pocket before turning to leave.

\---

**Seokdick:**

_‘Kong bean! I have a surprise for you! You’re gunna hate it!’_

**You:**

_‘Then I’d rather you didn’t give it to me’_

_‘Too bad!’_

_*Attachment Delivered*_

_*Attachment Delivered*_

_‘Where did you get these? Are they photoshopped?’_

_‘No technical wizardry involved! I bullied Sanghyuk into sending them to me!’_

_‘And you thought I’d want to see him kissing my boyfriend?’_

_‘Not want, no. You need it! Go and collect your man before things get too serious.’_

_‘As you know full well, I already tried. He texted me this morning but only to tell me to leave him alone. And he changed his number.’_

_‘Oh! Well I can find his new one for you, that’s one of my specialties!’_

_‘I wondered why he wasn’t texting me back…’_

_‘Do you think it could have anything to do with the fact that we slept together?’_

_‘I’ve done worse, and he always texts me back.’_

_‘Whatever, I don’t want to know. I did get an angry selfie though.’_

_‘Lemme see! I miss Jaehwanie’s pouty face!_

_*Attachment Sent*_

_‘Aww, such a sweetie cutie!’_

_‘Can you really find me his new number?’_

_‘Of course! I’ll get right on it. Work is boring today.’_

\---

Sanghyuk had dressed in the shirt and quarter-zip Jaehwan had given him, and he was standing in front of his bathroom mirror, making sure he looked presentable.

“Are you sure you’ve done enough hiding? I think waiting a full week to see him again would make the most impact,” Hakyeon said sarcastically, perched on the rim of the bathtub and watching the criminal straighten his collar.

“Should I have bought flowers? I feel like I should have bought him flowers,” Sanghyuk asked, too distracted to bother glaring at his friend. “You’ve bought him enough fucking flowers!” was Hakyeon’s exasperated reply.

Last time they saw each other, Sanghyuk hadn’t behaved properly. He knew that, and he had been so ashamed that he had removed himself from Jaehwan’s presence for a few days. He wanted to give his hacker plenty of time to recover, and also hoped that the space would lessen whatever pain Sanghyuk may have caused. It had only been three days, but he prayed that was long enough, because he couldn’t stand being away from Jaehwan for another minute.

“You need to talk to Jae!” Wonshik’s voice exclaimed, the doctor appearing at his bathroom door, glowering at the criminal, a soft dinging coming from his pocket. Sanghyuk had needed space away from his friend as well, so that he wouldn’t say something he’d regret. Or punch him.

“Who’s blowing up your phone?” Hakyeon asked, eyeing the doctor curiously. “The boyfriend. It’s a long story, but what matters right now is _you_ going to see _Jae_.”

“Why? Did he ask about me?” Sanghyuk asked, trying to sound nonchalant and pretend that he wasn’t planning to do just that. “Yes! He misses you so much that he slept on the foot of my bed last night like a god damn puppy because he was lonely! Scared the shit out of me when I woke up, I might add,” Wonshik replied, pulling his phone out of his pocket and putting it on silent.

“He slept on your bed?” Hakyeon asked with a laugh, taking the words right out of Sanghyuk’s mouth. “Yes! I almost kicked him off! He snuck in after I was already asleep! He told me to remind you that he hates sleeping alone.”

“So, he’s not mad at me?” Sanghyuk asked, looking back at the mirror to make sure his hair was set perfectly. “No! Now go talk to him!” Wonshik exclaimed. His friend looked and sounded very pissed off, so Sanghyuk decided not to inquire further and walked past him, leaving the doctor in his bathroom with Hakyeon.

He made his way down to Jaehwan’s workroom, nodding to his men along the way and adjusting his belt so the buckle was exactly centered. It was silver, two G’s on top of each other, and he had bought it yesterday in the hopes that if his hacker saw him in something branded, it might distract him from being angry.

Sanghyuk knocked on the workroom door, waiting until he heard Jaehwan’s high voice call, “Wonshik? If Binnie is still bugging you, I told you to go whine to Sanghyuk about it, not me!” before cracking it open and sticking his head in. “Judging by the good doctor’s _extremely_ unpleasant mood, I think he is.”

Before he made it over the threshold, a blonde blur streaked across the room and jumped on him. “You’re back! Are you still upset with me? Please don’t be angry, I overreacted! I missed you so much!” Jaehwan was screeching, dotting kisses all over the criminal’s face and latching on like a starfish. Sanghyuk’s heart leapt.

“Of course, I’m not angry, I thought you were angry with me!” Sanghyuk replied, hugging his hacker’s waist and spinning him around. It felt so good to have Jaehwan back in his arms, three days apart had been _way_ too long. “Why would I be mad at you?!” Jaehwan exclaimed, cupping Sanghyuk’s cheeks and looking into his eyes, confused.

“Because I was so rough on you, and you had just been so sick, and I didn’t mean to hurt you, I let my emotions get the better of- “

Sanghyuk’s babbling was cut short, his hackers soft, plump lips capturing his own. Jaehwan was so warm, real. His lean body pressed close enough that the criminal could feel his heartbeat. That still unfamiliar joy bubbled up in the pit of Sanghyuk’s stomach. By now, he had figured out which emotion was causing it, but he was terrified to give it its proper name. So, he called it _joy_.

“I’m not mad about that. I told you I could handle it, and it still felt like fucking _magic_ ,” Jaehwan replied, whispered into Sanghyuk’s mouth. The criminal inhaled his words like a man drowning. Letting Jaehwan’s forgiveness fortify him.

Slowly, regretfully, Sanghyuk set his hacker on his feet, keeping a hand on him as they walked further into the workroom. On Jaehwan’s arm, his back, his waist. The criminal couldn’t touch enough of him at once, his fingers in constant motion.

“Is that my present? I knew that sweater would look good on you! And this is a delightful surprise,” Jaehwan said, walking backwards with a wicked grin on his face, his hand grazing Sanghyuk’s belt buckle. The criminal nodded, winking as he replied, “And here I was, thinking you had terrible taste.”

His hacker huffed, pouting, but there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “I want to take you out. Properly,” Sanghyuk said softly, palms flat against his hacker’s hips.

Jaehwan’s expression changed to one of genuine surprise. “Out? Like, a date?” he asked, his lips curving up into a crooked grin. “Yes, a date. I was going to bring you flowers, but Hakyeon told me I had bought you enough flowers already.”

“But, wouldn’t that be bad for your whole ‘innocent politician baby’ public image?” Jaehwan asked, his head tilting to the side so a strand of golden hair fell across his eyes. “Maybe, but even politicians are allowed to date, and I generally don’t give a shit about paparazzi. Do you want to?”

“Yes,” Jaehwan replied, tone firm, his beautiful chocolate brown eyes crinkling as he went up on tip-toe, kissing Sanghyuk so sweetly that the criminal’s breath hitched. “Not right this minute though. First, I want to show you how far I’ve gotten on our project,” his hacker added, slipping away and sauntering over to his desk. The criminal was close on his heels, like a magnet was pulling him after Jaehwan. Never more than a step away.

His hands settled on Jaehwan’s shoulders, standing behind his hackers’ desk chair as Jaehwan began typing. Sanghyuk noticed the watch. How could he not? The silver face was enormous on his hacker’s slim wrist. It was _the_ watch. Hongbin’s Rolex. Jaehwan hadn’t worn it in a while, not since before the gamer showed up at the compound. Sanghyuk tried not to think too much of it. Even it had been a gift, it was still Jaehwan’s watch and he was allowed to wear whatever he wanted. Maybe a watch was easier than pulling out his phone to check the time while he was coding, although Sanghyuk thought the clock on his computer screen would be more convenient than either.

“Ok, so if I were to work for the next 36 hours straight, which, I’m not going to lie, I have done before and I could do now if you wanted me too, I would have everything finished. I already have the major framework done, so now it’s just a matter of finessing the details,” Jaehwan was saying, clicking around his screen.

“How does all of it work? I mean, I get the general idea, but I’m no expert,” Sanghyuk asked, eyeing the vase of white flowers sitting next to the monitor. He had bought so many bouquets that they had all started to run together in his head, and he wasn’t positive, but he didn’t think he’d picked those. He half remembered trying to avoid white, wanting something more colorful and vibrant to match Jaehwan’s fiery personality.

“Well, after analyzing the facility where your documents are being kept and going over its security, I’ve designed a sort of… back door, you could say. The firewalls around everything are crazy strong, and there aren’t any chinks in the armor that I can exploit. So, this is going to be more of a ‘slow and steady’ attack. Instead of throwing everything at it as hard as I can and hoping it cracks, which would set off a _fuck ton_ of warning bells, my code is going to rub up against it, get friendly, gently pushing until it merges with the security programing.”

“I have some other things ready to deploy once I’m in, to unlock physical doors rather than metaphorical ones so your people can get through, and I can remotely shut off alarms and turn security camera’s around. I can use those as-needed. Your people already know where they are going inside the actual building, so I’m just going to make sure they get a clear run. Nobody should even know we were there.”

Sanghyuk was slightly dumbfounded. He had less than no clue how strings of letters and numbers could possibly do any of the thing’s Jaehwan just described, but then again, he wasn’t the computer genius. This was better than he had ever expected.

“You can seriously do all that? From here?” Sanghyuk asked, waving a hand at the monitors. “Absolutely!” Jaehwan replied, fondly patting the screen in the center like a proud parent. “I’m certainly getting my money’s worth then. The payment transfer to your bank account was just authorized, by the way, so it should be in there.”

“Honestly, I totally forgot you were paying me, but thanks!” Jaehwan said happily, grinning up at the criminal as Sanghyuk started to play with one of his ears. They were so pointy, he couldn’t decide if his hacker reminded him of a pixie or an elf.

“You have funny ears,” Sanghyuk said, his train of thought completely derailed, lightly pinching one of Jaehwan’s earlobes. “Rude!” his hacker exclaimed, reaching up and smacking Sanghyuk’s forearm. “Now that the business stuff is out of the way, where do you want to take me for our date?”

\---

Those pictures Seokjin had sent made Hongbin see red. That fucking psychopath’s lips on Jaehwan’s cheek. His mouth. All of it was wrong.

_“Did you feel… sparks?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Do it again.”_

He was sitting on the floor, leaning against the tv stand in his game room and listening to the recording from Jaehwan’s computer. Torturing himself. He was a masochist, apparently.

_“What about now?”_

_“Fucking fireworks.”_

Hongbin needed to do something. Jaehwan didn’t even need to be involved, he just had to do _something,_ make a change. Everything in his life was changing around him, overwhelming him. He ran a hand through his tangle of hair, and then stilled.

Hurrying out of his game room and into the kitchen, Hongbin yanked out the silverware drawer and grabbed the scissor. He stomped back down the hall, through his bedroom, and stopped in front of the bathroom mirror. Running a comb through his wavy hair, Hongbin brushed out the knots as best as he could until his hair was hanging down across his eyes.

He took a deep breathe, lining up the scissors so they were just under his eyebrow, and cut. The first lock of hair that landed on his old green t-shirt was closely followed by another. And another. He cut and cut and cut until his curls were gone, now just relaxed waves that ended around the tops of his ears.

Hongbin stared at himself in the mirror. He looked older this way, he decided, manlier. Cheekbones and jawline more defined. It would take a little getting used too, he hadn’t had his hair this short since high school, but he liked it. He liked it a lot. It helped.

After inspecting his reflection for several minutes, Hongbin’s phone vibrated in his back pocket and he pulled it out.

**Seokdick:**

_‘What are you up too, Binnie? Joonie and I are having a movie night, wanna join? ;) ‘_

**You:**

_‘I gave myself a haircut, and no I don’t.’_

_‘WHAT?!?!?!?!?! You cut your gorgeous hair?! The envy of every boy and girl in Seoul?!’_

_‘Yes.’_

_‘Let me see!!!!!’_

_*Attachment Delivered*_

_‘HOLY SHIT’_

_‘YOU LOOK SO FUCKING HOT’_

_‘Thanks. Have you found Jae’s new number yet?’_

_‘Yesss, I was about to tell you. It took a while to figure out because it’s not on his old plan, it’s on Sanghyuk’s. But here you go: **********’_

_‘Thanks again.’_

**Chapter 12: The Plot**   
**Summary:**

**It was almost virginal, the way a first kiss with someone should be. Close-mouthed and gentle, but bare and raw at the same time. Just the softest brush of lips.**

**Notes:**

**This was one of the more enjoyable chapters to write, I'm so sorry but I love drama!**

_ The Plot: _

“You look stunning,” Sanghyuk said, his voice smooth as he walked up behind Jaehwan. It was 8 pm, and the hacker was standing in the entry hall, dressed and ready for their dinner date. He had agonized over what to wear for several hours, but finally settled on a black suit and thin black turtleneck, paired with a leather belt and gold belt buckle very similar to Sanghyuk’s silver one.

His hair was swept up off his forehead in the way his friends always said made him look princely. Jaehwan had even dug his small makeup bag out of the bottom of his suitcase, expertly applying some eyeliner, lip tint, and the tiniest bit of rose-colored shadow. In essence, he was perfect.

Jaehwan turned, looking Sanghyuk up and down, swallowing audibly. The criminal’s thick, dark hair was styled its normal way, framing his sharp features and accentuating his cheekbones. Instead of his normal suit, Sanghyuk had on a high-necked black jacket, leather embellishing the shoulders and collar. Shiny buttons ran down in a swooping curve from one shoulder to the center, fabric flaring out just slightly at the hem. It emphasized the criminal’s waist, and Jaehwan’s eyes were naturally drawn lower, first to his perfectly tailored black slacks and then all the way down his long legs to his shiny black oxfords.

“Where did you buy that?” Jaehwan asked, only half caring about the answer. Sanghyuk normally looked great, but tonight he looked absolutely _captivating_. The criminal flashed his playboy smile, sliding a hand around Jaehwan’s waist as he replied, “It’s custom.”

“So,” Sanghyuk said, his palm against the hacker’s lower back as he led him out to the garage, “I made us a dinner reservation, and afterward I thought we could go somewhere for drinks.” Jaehwan nodded happily. He hadn’t left the mansion in over a week and was looking forward to being out amongst other people. “That sounds perfect,” he replied, lowering himself onto the passenger seat of the matte black Aston when Sanghyuk opened his door.

\---

Wonshik was out. Hakyeon had basically kicked him out of the mansion as soon as Sanghyuk left with Jaehwan, saying that the doctor needed some fresh air and alcohol to get his mind off the hacker.

He was at a bar downtown, it was really more of a club, and the place was already packed. From his spot by the bar, the doctor watched the crowd of people on the dance floor, bass-heavy music so loud he would have gotten a headache if not for the vodka cranberry he had been steadily sipping since he arrive. It was hot, the air stifling and almost opaque from the fog machine by the DJ booth.

Someone hopped up onto the bar stool next to Wonshik, and the doctor glanced over, curious. The man wasn’t facing him, trying to signal to the bar tender, but Wonshik saw that he had rather smoky eye makeup. He was a tall brunette, almost the doctor’s height but not quite, with broad shoulders and very toned arms. And a choker.

“Hi there,” the man said, turning to Wonshik and smiling, cheeks dimpling as he ran a hand through his hair. His voice was deep, clear, and the doctor didn’t recognize it until the man continued, speaking to the bar tender this time, “I’ll have a Manhattan, and one more of what ever he’s having.”

“You’re…” Wonshik stuttered, sitting up a little straighter and squinting at the man. The hair was different, and so was the makeup. And the clothes. “Hongbin, nice to formally meet you. We’ve been texting,” the man said, holding out his hand for the doctor to shake. He didn’t take it.

“I can’t be- you’re the- how did you know I was here?” Wonshik stuttered, wary, watching Hongbin pay for the drinks and then take a sip. “You don’t date a world-class hacker for three years without learning a few tricks. I tracked your phone.”

His expression was absurdly smug, the blunt and honest reply surprising Wonshik. “Why?” the doctor asked, sipping his fresh drink to try and calm his nerves. “Because, I want to get to know you better. We can talk.”

“I can’t talk to you, Sanghyuk has people watching you Jaehwan will slit my throat. But thanks for the drink,” Wonshik replied, sliding off his bar stool and heading for the door. Hongbin followed, grabbing the doctor’s upper arm and pulling him to a stop.

Wonshik was flustered to say the least. Being ambushed by his current crush’s extremely hot ex-boyfriend was not what he had planned for this evening. “Hey! Hear me out for like two seconds,” Hongbin said, basically dragging the doctor away from the dance floor, and subsequently, the exit.

“I don’t want too,” Wonshik groaned, but Hongbin ignored him. “Look, I slipped out of my building without Sanghyuk’s men seeing me, and I didn’t take my car so he’s not tracking me. Let’s get right to the point. I saw you with Jae the other day, did you forget? Your feelings for him were pretty obvious, even to me, and I don’t know you. I don’t understand how you can stand seeing him with Sanghyuk, but we’re in the same boat.”

“No, we aren’t, he dumped you because you cheated on him!” Wonshik replied, offended. “Yeah, I know. It was a shitty thing to do, and I wish I could live that night over and never let Seokjin lure me to his house or get drunk. Since I can’t do that, I’m trying to get him back and prove how much I still love him.”

“But we _are_ in the same boat. You have feelings for him too, and he’s still dying despite your best efforts. Thank you for working so hard to save him, by the way, he’s never trusted a doctor before and I’m eternally grateful to you for that. But we can't stand by and watch your boss hurt him, make him sicker. At least, I can’t.”

Against his better judgement, Wonshik thought back to holding the unconscious Jaehwan in his arms as he carried the hacker away from the front gate. How scared Jaehwan had been when he woke up, clinging to the doctor like a life preserver. How Sanghyuk had insisted that Wonshik give the hacker an adrenaline shot, freely gambling with Jaehwan’s life just because he was impatient.

The first time Jaehwan had an episode at the mansion was Sanghyuk’s fault as well, now that Wonshik thought about it. His friend had pulled that macho bullshit when he was explaining the Yakuza project, and then continued to let Jaehwan overwork himself to get it done. The faint bruises on Jaehwan’s wrists when he came back after his shower the day he woke up.

The whole situation with Hongbin would have gone drastically differently if the hacker hadn’t seen what was going on and followed the doctor’s friends. He knew, and Hongbin probably assumed, that Sanghyuk would have killed him in cold blood and felt absolutely no remorse for doing it. Wonshik loved Sanghyuk like a brother, but there was no getting around the fact that he was an impulsive and sometimes cruel person.

Hongbin was watching the doctor intently as he thought it through. “Listen, ok, let’s say you’re right. There’s nothing I can do about it. They’re both consenting adults, and Sanghyuk would throw me out if he really saw me as a threat of _any_ kind. And I can promise you, he doesn’t.”

“I care about Jae more than I care about myself, I love him more than my own life, ok? I will do _whatever_ it takes to keep him safe. That’s why I’m asking for your help, I know you want to save him too,” Hongbin replied, his deep voice barely audible over the trap music blasting through the speakers.

He put a hand on the doctor’s shoulder, squeezing a little as Wonshik asked, very hesitantly, “What exactly do you want me to do?”

\---

“So, sweetheart, what’s your poison?” Sanghyuk asked, scanning the bar menu.

Dinner had gone perfectly, exactly how he hoped it would. He had chosen to take Jaehwan to his favorite steakhouse, and thoroughly enjoyed watching his hacker inhale the food like he hadn’t had a meal in weeks. Jaehwan could eat a surprising amount for such a skinny person.

Now, they had their fingers laced loosely together on top of the small table between their plush leather chairs, Sanghyuk’s eyes straying away from the menu to linger on Jaehwan’s long, slim legs, crossed at the knee. One black ankle boot bouncing absentmindedly in midair. His hacker was a vision of absolute _perfection_.

“Um, I don’t usually drink, so I’m not sure. Hong- what do you recommend?” Jaehwan replied, catching himself before he said the gamers name. “Well, I’m a fan of G&T’s or bourbon on the rocks, but you might like a Manhattan. It comes with a cherry,” Sanghyuk said, smiling and pretending he hadn’t noticed. He was also pretending not to notice the Rolex still firmly secured around Jaehwan’s wrist. He would have to buy him a new watch first thing tomorrow.

“That’s what- that sounds good. I’ll try it,” Jaehwan replied, looking shifty for a second before his smile returned. Sanghyuk nodded, signaling to a waiter and placing their order. He had picked a more subdued location for the second half of their date, a very posh bar that he sometimes took business clients too. The criminal wanted a nice, quiet atmosphere so he and Jaehwan could talk without having to shout over music.

“Anyway, Mr. real-estate mogul, I’m in the market for a new apartment. Do you have any vacancies?” Jaehwan asked, his thumb brushing rhythmically up and down the side of Sanghyuk’s index finger.

Quickly running through his listings in his head, Sanghyuk replied playfully, “I do have another penthouse that’s currently empty, I could give you a very competitive discount on rent.”

In truth, he had already earmarked the apartment in question for Jaehwan to use whenever he got around to moving his thing’s out of his old place. That day couldn’t come soon enough, in Sanghyuk’s opinion, especially with the current state of Jaehwan’s wrist.

“Will you barge in unexpectedly like you did before?” Jaehwan asked, lips pursed to conceal a smile. “Of course,” the criminal replied, winking before taking his glass from the waiter.

Three drink’s later, the criminal was pleasantly tipsy. Jaehwan was perched sideways on Sanghyuk’s lap, the tips of his ears flushed, and telling a story about one of his jobs that hadn’t worked out like he expected it too. His words were broken up with giggles, his high voice only the tiniest bit slurred. Sanghyuk was in _heaven_.

“How did you avoid the police?” the criminal asked, squeezing Jaehwan’s hip and taking a sip of his drink. “I didn’t! That’s the best part!” Jaehwan replied happily, “I was only 17 and looked pretty sickly at the time, essentially stuck in bed all day with an IV drip, and when the cops came to question me, they took one look at me and decided I wasn’t capable of something on that scale! They left without asking me a single thing!”

Sanghyuk chuckled, Jaehwan’s giggles were infectious and, even tipsy, he was still completely in awe of his hacker. Everything about him seemed too good to be true. “You’re magnificent,” the criminal murmured, pressing a kiss on Jaehwan’s forehead as his phone began to buzz.

He shifted, pulling it out of his pocket to see that Hakyeon had sent him a link, the text underneath only reading _‘Please be more discrete!’_ When he clicked it, he saw a newspaper logo, and several candid photos of him and Jaehwan. The first was of Sanghyuk holding the passenger door open as his hacker got out of his car, the next was of them holding hands as they walked into the steakhouse, and the last was clearly taken through the window of the bar. It couldn’t have been very long ago, because Jaehwan was sitting on his lap and kissing Sanghyuk’s cheek.

“Look, sweetheart, we made it in the tabloids quicker than I expected,” the criminal said, holding his phone out for Jaehwan to see. “My ass looks fantastic!” Jaehwan exclaimed, clearly pleased and a bit loud, stopping on the picture in front of the restaurant. Sanghyuk couldn’t disagree. The hacker was grinning, texting the link to himself as he added, “More pictures for our collection. I don’t think I’ve ever been in the paper before, what did they say about me?”

Sanghyuk took his phone back and scanned the article, before reading aloud, “Han Sanghyuk, rising political star and champion of the people, was seen tonight out on the town with Lee Jaehwan, 22, a highly sought-after cyber security consultant and multi-millionaire.”

“Good, that’s what it says on my resume,” Jaehwan mumbled, trying to take a sip of his drink but finding his glass empty. “You have a resume?” Sanghyuk asked, incredulous. “Yes, but it’s strictly for business purposes.”

“As are most resumes, how come I’ve never seen it?” Sanghyuk replied, unable to hold back a laugh as Jaehwan waved his hand vaguely at nothing. “Not your kind of business, _business_ business. I _have_ worked for the government, you know.”

“So, you gave the government a resume with lies on it?”

“It’s not a lie! I _am_ a cyber security consultant! I just didn’t specify whether I consult on how to fix my client’s security network or the best way to break someone else’s!”

The criminal was laughing in earnest now, fondness for Jaehwan flooding him as he felt that _joy_ in his stomach give a particularly strong jolt. “I can’t see our waiter, and my Brooklyn is empty,” Jaehwan said, sitting up straight and peering over Sanghyuk’s shoulder.

“It’s a Manhattan, and you’ve had plenty. Let’s go before I have to carry you out of here,” Sanghyuk replied, setting his glass on the table and bouncing his knee to try and get his hacker to stand up.

“But I _want_ you to carry me,” Jaehwan replied, his voice turning whiny as his expression changed to an adorable pout. “I’ll carry you out of the car when we get home, I promise,” Sanghyuk said, successfully nudging Jaehwan to his feet.

\---

Wonshik had taken a cab back to the compound an hour after his impromptu meeting with Hongbin. It was much later now, and the buzz he got going at the club had completely warn off at this point, which was a real shame, because the plan the two of them had concocted was making Wonshik incredibly anxious.

He was sitting at his desk in the dim, empty medical ward, phone in hand as he peered out the window at the darkened driveway. Ears open for the telltale sound of Sanghyuk’s car. The stupidly overpowered engine was so loud that, with the way his friend drove, it could be heard from at least a mile away.

Hongbin had made a lot of good points during their conversation. The gamer had a very persuasive way of speaking, his voice almost as deep as Wonshik’s own, each word clear and sharp. He was the kind of person that made you want to agree with him. To please him. To gain his approval.

Wonshik liked Hongbin, despite every part of his brain telling him he shouldn’t. He liked the way the gamer talked about Jaehwan, the barest hint of a smile that turned up one corner of his mouth every time he said Jaehwan’s name. Wonshik could see the deep affection Hongbin had for the hacker. The love. It was written clear across the gamers face, in the urgency with which he spoke. Surprisingly, it didn’t bother the doctor, not the way Sanghyuk did.

The plan was a good one. Not great, but good enough. Wonshik’s part in it was the most important, even though Hongbin would be doing all the real work. He had to get Hongbin onto the grounds of the compound without being spotted by any guards or security cameras.

It should be relatively easy, since Sanghyuk had given the majority of the men a night off, only keeping a small company on guard around the main gate and three or four men to patrol the house. He had lived at the mansion long enough to know the few camera-free routes in and out. Wonshik’s real concerns were anyone who may be looking out a window at the wrong time, and Hakyeon. The second in command had a way of popping up unexpectedly when you least wanted him to, and he had eyes in the back of his head. If Hakyeon found them, Wonshik would be in deep shit.

The main reason that Wonshik was doing this was to keep his patient healthy. Sanghyuk was clearly a negative influence on Jaehwan, and the whole thing between them needed to stop before his friend got the hacker killed. If he was honest with himself, though, it was also partially because of jealousy. He was jealous that Jaehwan was out on a date with Sanghyuk, jealous that they had slept together, jealous of the clear physical attraction they felt for each other. He knew it was stupid. Jaehwan may be touchy with him, but he had no actual feelings for the doctor.

Jaehwan’s hands on him were always automatic, casual. Trusting and friendly, but that’s where it ended for the hacker. There was no heat behind it. Not like the deliberate way he would rub up against Sanghyuk, kiss his palm. Wonshik bet that if he tried to hold Jaehwan’s hand, other than while giving him a shot or taking his pulse, the hacker would shake him off.

A loud engine note, still far off but close enough for it to be distinctly recognizable, caught the doctor’s attention. His phone screen lit up the dark ward as he clicked on Hongbin’s chat thread and typed: _‘they’re almost here, be ready.’_

He didn’t get a reply, but he wasn’t expecting one. The deep rumble was getting louder by the second, until the metal gates at the front of the driveway hastily creaked open. Sanghyuk’s car made what was obviously a well-executed handbrake turn off the road and pulled into the compound at a speed that would have been illegal even if it was on the freeway, before tearing down the driveway and skidding to a stop. The cars back wheels drifting to the side on the loose gravel.

Not even a moment later, Wonshik watched Sanghyuk exit out the passenger door? Through the window he had cracked open, he clearly heard his friend laugh as he walked around to the driver’s side and yanked it open, bending down and scooping Jaehwan into his arms.

“So, you’re fine to drive but not to walk?” Sanghyuk asked, through his uncontrollable giggling. “I’m a fucking prince, jackass! Princes don’t need to use their legs!” Jaehwan replied, very loudly and very vehemently, kicking his feet up and down in the air and slinging his arms around Sanghyuk’s neck. Both were clearly intoxicated.

Sanghyuk let Jaehwan drive drunk. _Fucking Christ!_ If anything, this new bit of unpleasant information just solidified Wonshik’s resolve. It also made what he had to do next a whole lot easier.

The doctor didn’t get truly angry easily. But he had been teetering on the edge for days, staring down into the bottomless pit filled with hatred and jealousy. So much _jealously_. His mind shifted, then. Before, he had been going along with Hongbin’s plan because he wanted Jaehwan away from Sanghyuk to keep the hacker safe, healthy. Hongbin was just a necessary evil when it came down to it, because Wonshik knew he didn’t have a strong enough emotional hold on Jaehwan to do it himself. He had physically pushed his own feelings to the back of his mind.

But _now_ , now Wonshik was doing this out of spite. Because he understood exactly how much Sanghyuk hated Hongbin. How much it would hurt his friend to lose Jaehwan’s affection, and how losing to Hongbin, of all people, would be life a knife in his chest.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Wonshik exclaimed angrily, meeting the two of them in the entry hall. The doctor could feel himself swelling with a mix of fury and righteous indignation. It must have shown on his face because Sanghyuk almost dropped Jaehwan he put him down so fast. His friend’s expression was like kid caught with their hand in a cookie jar.

“Getting home from a very fun date?” Jaehwan replied, with an innocence that was clearly feigned. “Look, Wonshikie, we made it in the online newspaper!” he continued, flouncing over to the doctor and holding his phone very close to Wonshik’s face. The doctor had already seen the photos, and he didn’t care to see them again.

“You let him drink and drive?! You stupid fuck! Are you _trying_ to kill him before his illness does?!” Wonshik asked, his deep voice turning to almost a growl. He did his best to ignore Jaehwan’s arms around his middle, the heat of the hacker’s body as he said sweetly, “Wonshikie I’m okaaay! Don’t worry, I had fun!”

If it weren’t for the fact that Sanghyuk had been drinking, this next bit wouldn’t have worked. “I don’t actually care why you chose not to take a cab home like a responsible adult, but you’ve lost your Jaehwan privileges for tonight. Go the fuck to bed, _reckless child_ ,” Wonshik snarled, spitting the last words like they were poison. If he had been sober, Sanghyuk would have never let himself be talked down too like that, age difference or no.

As it was, though, the criminal just looked sheepish, brow creasing in admission of guilt. Clearly, Sanghyuk had belatedly realized just how stupid of a decision he’d made. He didn’t protest as Wonshik slid an arm around Jaehwan’s waist and half carried him down the hall. Separation, complete.

“I told you, my sweet doctor, I’m fine! I don’t want to sleep by myself,” Jaehwan whined, his words just the tiniest bit slurred, claret tinted bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “You don’t have too, you’re sleeping in my room,” Wonshik grumbled. _I’ll sleep on the couch,_ he was about to add, but the hacker seemed to brighten at his words, like he didn’t care who he slept next to as long as he slept next to someone. _God_ , Wonshik wanted to stop right there in the hall and kiss the hacker breathless, but he didn’t.

“You could have gotten yourself killed. Or worse, killed someone else,” the doctor continued, turning his head slightly to watch Jaehwan’s face as he dragged him down the corridor. “I only drove because Sanghyukkie had to make some phone calls to his publicist or something and text people, it’s illegal to drive and use your phone, you know.”

“Don’t even start,” Wonshik replied, not in the mood to bother untangling that twisted confusion of logic. Jaehwan wouldn’t be with him for much longer tonight anyway, if everything went according to plan.

To Wonshik’s dismay, Jaehwan turned out to be a very affectionate when tipsy. He was in the midst of helping the hacker change into some of his own pajamas, the too-large garments hanging off his slender frame in an _absurdly_ endearing way, when Jaehwan started to hum. It sounded more like a purr actually, like how a cat sounds when it’s in a warm patch of sunshine. Wonshik didn’t quite know what to make of the whole thing and just pulled the cotton pajama shirt over the hackers’ head.

As soon as it was on, Jaehwan tucked his arms against his middle and squished himself into Wonshik’s chest, nuzzling at the doctors’ throat like he expected to be embraced. “Off,” Wonshik said, tone sharp with suppressed longing, but Jaehwan ignored him.

“Wonshikie,” the hacker murmured, his normally high voice just the slightest bit raspy and lacking the slurred quality it had only moments ago. “Why did you steal me away from our boss?”

“To make sure you get some real sleep,” the doctor lied, his jaw clenching as the tip of Jaehwan’s adorably large nose brushed his ear. “I don’t believe you,” Jaehwan replied, his whispered words melting together with his odd humming. _The plan. Keep your brain in check and focus on the fucking plan._

“I saved you from a drunken groping at the hands of your new boyfriend, now get in bed and go to sleep,” Wonshik snapped, keeping his hands firmly at his sides, rather desperately trying not to notice the slight undulation of Jaehwan’s body, the hackers’ hot breath against his skin.

“Sanghyukkie is _not_ my new boyfriend,” Jaehwan replied, the chuckle following his words full of a cold amusement that made the doctor freeze where he stood. “And, I’ll get in bed, but I’m not tired.”

Jaehwan was gone a split second later, strutting over to Wonshik’s king size bed and sitting up against the pillows, knees tucked against his chest, looking so fucking cute that the doctor nearly forgot to breath. Was he just using Sanghyuk as a distraction, then? A rebound? Was he taking advantage of Sanghyuk’s obvious infatuation for comfort and nothing more? _The fucking plan, you idiot! Stick to the god damn plan and stop thinking with your dick!_

“I need a shower,” Wonshik muttered, spinning on his heels and hurrying into his bathroom. He didn’t need a shower. He had taken one as soon as he got home from the club. But he did need to get out of that room and away from Jaehwan for a few precious minutes to get his racing mind under control.

He turned on the tap, a little colder than he normally liked it, as he pulled out his phone.

**You:**

_‘Heads up, things are not as we thought.’_

**Jae’s Crazy Boyfriend:**

_‘What do you mean? And I’m outside the back gate where you told me to be.’_

_‘Apparently, the date was just a date, in Jaehwan’s head at least. He flat out told me that Sanghyuk isn’t his boyfriend.’_

_‘Interesting. Is it safe for me to text him yet?’_

_‘Yeah, Jae is in my room and I’m hiding in the bathroom. You can hop the gate pretty easily, use that tree stump to the left, if I’m remembering correctly, and then wait right by it. Tell him to leave my room and walk towards the medical ward, make three rights and then a left, go out the back door and follow the path through the rose garden. It ends right where you’ll be standing.’_

_‘Got it, thanks again.’_

_‘Whatever just don’t tell him I helped you and DON’T GET CAUGHT’_

_‘I won’t.’_

Wonshik took several shaky breaths. The spot he described was on the opposite side of the house from both Sanghyuk and Hakyeon’s bedrooms, but it was still intensely nerve raking, sneaking around.

He pressed his ear to the bathroom door, straining to hear the telltale chime that would mean Jaehwan had received a text. When he heard it, he stepped back and stripped down, going to stand in the cool shower for a few minutes to give Hongbin time to work his magic. His mind was full of nothing but a panicked buzz, as he towel-dried his hair and walked through the door connecting his bathroom and closet, pulling on clean boxers and a baby blue t-shirt.

Jaehwan was still sitting curled against the headboard when Wonshik reentered the bedroom, but his previously mischievous expression had changed to a look of slight bafflement. The hacker eyed the doctor curiously as Wonshik made his way over to set a water bottle on Jaehwan’s nightstand, and then to the other side of the bed and slid under the blankets. In his head, Wonshik repeated over and over that it was merely curiosity, not suspicion.

“Get in,” the doctor murmured, keeping any and all emotion off his face as he reached over and lifted the blanket up, watching Jaehwan’s bare feet disappear under it before the rest of him followed. Wonshik tucked the end up under Jaehwan’s chin, before turning the opposite way and clicking off his nightstand lamp. “Good night,” he said softly, closing his eyes and letting his head drop back on his pillow as the room was filled with silence.

The kiss that Jaehwan pressed against his lips a few moments later was so sweet and tender that Wonshik nearly _cried_. It was almost virginal, the way a first kiss with someone should be. Close-mouthed and gentle, but bare and raw at the same time. Just the softest brush of lips. Wonshik would have lived in that single moment for the rest of his life if he could, the sudden rush of butterflies fluttering in his stomach, the sensation of Jaehwan’s hand lightly resting on his shoulder, feeling like it was burning a brand into his skin despite the layer of clothing between them.

“You are so _good_. So _kind_ ,” Jaehwan whispered against his mouth, the pads of his fingers delicately smoothing Wonshik’s damp hair off his forehead before retreating to the opposite side of the bed. The doctor didn’t move a muscle, lying stiff against the mattress as though a thousand-pound weight had been dropped on his chest, listening to Jaehwan settle back under the blanket.

He had kept his eyes shut the entire time, squeezing them tighter as he forced his breathing into some semblance of a rhythm, feigning sleep even though he had never felt more awake in his entire life.

Jaehwan knew how deeply the doctor slept, having already snuck into this room without waking Wonshik a few nights previously, so it was no surprise when, after just ten minutes, Wonshik felt the blanket shift and the mattress dip. The sound of Jaehwan’s bare feet padding softly over to the door was like ringing in his ears, the only thought in his head was that he hoped the hacker grabbed a pair of shoes on his way out.

Wonshik turned on his side, staring at the red numbers glowing on the clock on the nightstand. Each time the numbers changed without Jaehwan returning increased his anxiety. What if they got caught? What if Hongbin was too rough? What if seeing the gamer again, face to face, worked Jaehwan’s emotions up so much that he had one of his episodes and fainted?

The room was still dark twenty-five minutes later, when Wonshik heard his door creak open again. He heard Jaehwan’s light footsteps approach and then the bed dip behind him. The hacker’s body curled against his back, utterly freezing from being outside in only pajamas on a cold autumn night and trembling with uncontrollable shivers.

Keeping his eyes closed, forcing himself to move like one in a sleep-soaked stupor, Wonshik rolled in place, pulling Jaehwan against his chest and wrapping his arms around him like the hacker had tried to get him to earlier. He felt Jaehwan’s thin, nimble fingers curl around the fabric of the doctors’ shirt, absorbing Wonshik’s body heat, sniffling softly when the doctor pressed his cheek to the hackers’ hair. It was still crunchy with hairspray and so _cold_ , but Wonshik heard Jaehwan’s sigh of relief as his shivers subsided.

The doctor had asked Jaehwan to cuddle a few days ago, he remembered now, even if he had been half joking at the time. It was more perfect than Wonshik had dreamed it would be.

**Chapter 13: The Unknown**   
**Summary:**

**He didn’t comprehend his own words, spoken in the heat of passion like they had been physically ripped from his body, until a few moments later.**

_The Unknown:_

Three rights and then a left, the unknown sender of the texts had said. ‘ _Come out if you’re brave enough, I know you can never resist a challenge.’_

The mansion was cold, his thin cotton pajamas and borrowed pair of slippers did nothing to keep him warm. Especially not when he snuck out the back door and was hit with a solid wall of frigid night air. Jaehwan was shivering by the time he reached the end of the winding path through the rose garden.

“Hey, baby,” a deep and easily recognizable voice said, a dark silhouette leaning up against a gate set in the stone wall at the back of the garden. He was shrouded by a small patch of trees, and Jaehwan’s eyes widened, instinctively taking a few steps toward the man as his sight adjusted to the shadows.

“What are you doing here?! Have you seriously lost your mind?!” Jaehwan exclaimed, the tone of his panicked whispers a little higher than his normal speaking voice. “I could ask you the same thing,” Hongbin replied softly. “Who just comes out in the middle of the night to meet a stranger?” The hacker didn’t have a good answer, but his life wasn’t in danger!

He stared at Hongbin through the darkness, drinking in the body he knew as well as his own. “You’re hair! What happened to it?” Jaehwan asked, unconsciously taking another step forward. Hongbin looked so much older, shadows cutting sharp under his cheekbones, his fringe almost covering his eyes.

“It was getting too long, I like it like this,” Hongbin replied, reaching a hand out that Jaehwan took without any conscious thought. The hacker liked it too, liked it a lot. “Did you have a good night, baby?” Hongbin continued, pulling Jaehwan a few steps closer, palm resting on the hacker’s lower back. It was such a familiar gesture, everything about Hongbin was familiar.

“Yes, I had a Manhattan. And it was delicious,” Jaehwan replied, a challenge, peering up into Hongbin’s sparkling eyes. At the bar, the hacker had physically stopped himself from telling Sanghyuk that they were Hongbin’s favorite drink. As soon as he had heard the word, an image of Hongbin sipping one, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed the light amber liquid, had flashed in Jaehwan’s mind.

“You know alcohol doesn’t mix well with your meds, baby,” Hongbin hummed, his words mildly chastising but his deep voice on the edge of amused. Challenge accepted. “I’m allowed to have fun,” Jaehwan replied, watching Hongbin’s eyelids lower a fraction.

“Of course, you are,” he said, patronizing.

“Why are you here, Binnie?” Jaehwan asked again, tiredness suddenly filling him. Weighing down his limbs like they were made of iron. “Same reason as last time, I missed you.”

“You almost got yourself shot last time,” Jaehwan said, his tone accusatory. “I don’t care.” Hongbin was too much of a gambler in every aspect of his life. He had no sense of self-preservation what so ever. “I care!” the hacker snapped, nearly forgetting where he was as Hongbin’s other arm wrapped around his waist. Incasing Jaehwan in warmth. 

“That’s good to hear,” Hongbin replied, tightening his hold on Jaehwan and tilting his head. Nipping lightly on Jaehwan’s bottom lip, still wine-stained from the tint he applied earlier this evening. The hacker’s mouth opened automatically, just a slight drop of his chin. Then, Hongbin was kissing him in earnest and he melted.

It was easy. Terrifyingly easy to fall back into the familiar feeling, the touch. The embrace. Easier than breathing. Like kicking his shoes off and collapsing on the couch in their apartment after a long day. Like the first sip of hot tea after going on a walk in the winter. Like a sigh of relief.

Hongbin was warm, _so warm_. His tongue licked into Jaehwan’s mouth, ran across his teeth. Jaehwan moaned, a quiet noise that could not be mistaken for anything other than desire. Their lips moved against each other effortlessly, the rhythm practiced, engrained in Jaehwan’s muscle memory.

His hands fluttered limply up to Hongbin’s shoulders, neither pushing him away nor pulling him closer. Jaehwan let himself be held there, let Hongbin’s hot hands cup his cheeks, pressing into his frozen skin.

“You’re so cold, baby,” Hongbin whispered, his voice sultry and deep as the Pacific Ocean when he pulled back a few inches. Jaehwan gasped, trying to inhale as much night air as he could. “Let me warm you up.”

It didn’t matter that they were outside, standing in his employers’ garden in the middle of the night. Jaehwan couldn’t even muster the anger he had been harboring since the phone call. He felt nothing but an overwhelming sense of belonging as Hongbin captured his lips, kissing him hungrily.

Jaehwan let himself be pushed to the stone garden wall, let Hongbin’s hands slide under the hacker’s shirt, running the tips of his fingers along the muscles of his abdomen. Gentle but firm. Jaehwan blinked rapidly as Hongbin’s lips trailed across his cheek, along his jaw, down the line of his neck. His breath was coming shallower with each passing second.

“You’re so beautiful, baby. So exquisite,” Hongbin murmured, the low rumble of his voice sending a shudder up the hacker’s spine. His eyes drifted shut, lips parted in a smile at the praise as one of Hongbin’s fingers found its’ way under the waistband of his borrowed pajama pants and tugged it down.

Little breathy sounds were escaping him, but Jaehwan barely noticed as Hongbin sucked gently, tenderly, on the side of his neck, the base of his throat, the exposed sliver of collarbone peeking out from the neck of his shirt. Hongbin pressed his thumb lightly into the spot above Jaehwan’s v-line, and the hacker choked out a moan.

“Absolutely breathtaking,” Hongbin purred, palming Jaehwan’s crotch before capturing the hackers’ mouth once more. Jaehwan whimpered, feeling Hongbin’s hand start to run up and down his already half-hard cock, pumping him perfectly as his teeth grazed the hackers bottom lip.

Hongbin’s hand moved a bit faster, Jaehwan whining uncontrollably at the relentless strokes. The _pleasure_. What was it that Wonshik said? A drunken groping? The hacker couldn’t force his mind to form coherent thoughts. Not when Hongbin was all over him, nibbling on his earlobe, sucking gently on his pulse point, his breath steaming against Jaehwan’s icy skin.

Jaehwan felt his pleasure spike, whimpering as Hongbin’s thumb brushed the sensitive spot under the head of his cock. His knees went weak, thighs shaking, but Hongbin held him up. “You, Lee Jaehwan, are the most perfect creature I have ever laid eyes on.”

Jaehwan wanted to reciprocate somehow but Hongbin was in charge, as he always was, and the hacker had completely forgotten what to do with his hands. What did he normally do with them? He couldn’t remember, so he just hooked his fingers around the lapels of his gamers’ open coat.

“So unbelievably lovely, my angel.” Jaehwan keened, Hongbin’s sweet words filling him with contentment. His already uneven breathing stuttered as Hongbin thumbed his slit, spreading precum around as his strokes became more insistent. Hongbin’s name poured out of Jaehwan’s mouth like a mantra.

Hongbin pampered him, he always did. He made Jaehwan feel like the most precious thing in the universe. Jaehwan loved it. Loved absolutely every second of it. His whole body was trembling, either from the cold or from the fire coursing through his veins, he wasn’t sure which. Probably both. He pushed weakly into his gamers’ fist, but Hongbin shushed him quietly and held him still.

He nuzzled Jaehwan’s temple, pressing soft kisses against his brow, the corner of his mouth. The hacker felt sensitive, suddenly overstimulated. “Come for me, baby.”

The muscles of his stomach clenched, seeing stars behind his eyelids as the force of his orgasm hit. “I love you, Binnie, _fuck_ ,” he whined, panting heavily as he came on Hongbin’s hand, his stomach.

He didn’t comprehend his own words, spoken in the heat of passion like they had been physically ripped from his body, until a few moments later. Not until his breathing had returned to normal and Hongbin was wiping his hand on his black tank top, like he didn’t care about wearing something streaked with cum. Hongbin was smiling. His wide, genuine smile, white teeth gleaming in the moonlight, eyes crinkled and dimples showing.

“I- I,” Jaehwan stuttered, unable to take his eyes off Hongbin’s face. He hadn’t lied, but he wished that he had. Jaehwan wished for the thousandth time that he could just turn his feelings off, but he was unable. Like his heart wouldn’t let him forget the love he felt for Hongbin, as deep as Hongbin’s own voice.

“Shh,” Hongbin replied, pressing a last quick kiss to Jaehwan’s forehead. He slid his scarlet wool coat off and draped it over Jaehwan’s shoulders before he continued, “Come see me tomorrow. I’ll be at home.”

Without another word, his gamer stepped away, using those incredibly toned arms to hoist himself easily over the wooden gate. Then he was gone, only the coat and the ghost of his lips proving to Jaehwan that it hadn’t been a dream.

Rather miraculously, Jaehwan thought as he looked himself over, he hadn’t gotten anything on his own clothes. He would still wash the PJ’s before giving them back, of course, but he was glad he didn’t need to change right now. His exhaustion was bone deep and his mind floated in a post-orgasm haze. He hastily made his way back down the path and into the mansion, nearly jogging back to Wonshik’s room. He didn’t want to face his own empty bed right now. He couldn’t.

On the way, he paused at one of the many hall mirrors to examine himself. Not a single hickey. Hongbin had been so gentle, careful with the amount of pressure he applied, and Jaehwan wondered why. Neither of them ever shied away from leaving marks. Maybe Hongbin had been trying to do him a favor, not physically showing off what they had done. Not wanting Sanghyuk to get angry. That thought ignited a spark of indignation in the hackers’ chest. He was a single man (A situation that was _entirely_ Hongbin’s fault) and could do whatever he wanted with whoever he damn well pleased.

He did like Sanghyuk and genuinely enjoyed being around him no matter what they were doing. He knew, could tell, how Sanghyuk felt about him. It was clear as day, the way Sanghyuk’s behavior towards him had changed. No longer really trying to intimidate, going all doe-eyed and acting almost as affectionate as the doctor instead. But they had never openly spoken about feelings, and their date was just a date. Sanghyuk wasn’t his boyfriend and Jaehwan was NOT a cheater. He had been on the receiving end of that particular experience enough to never willingly inflict that pain on anyone else.

Wonshik was another problem entirely, but at least he seemed to have his puppy love under control, if tonight was any indication. Jaehwan had kissed the doctor earlier because he wanted to give Wonshik something. Because he was grateful. Grateful that Wonshik hadn’t tried to take advantage of him or push him into anything, despite his own advances, and had simply made sure he was comfortable and put him to bed. Jaehwan probably would have slept with him, the aftermath of the drinks and the doctors very sexy and unexpected anger had nudged at the lustful part of Jaehwan’s brain, making it come alive. Not to mention that Wonshik was inconveniently and unarguable attractive. But, Jaehwan mused, he was glad nothing more had happened. He seemed to always be grateful to Wonshik for something.

Jaehwan pouted at his own reflection. He had long ago come to the conclusion that he was too attractive for his own good, a fact that was _aggressively_ reinforced in this moment. He turned and continued hurrying down the hall, cracking Wonshik’s door open and then shut, nearly gasping from the cold as he removed his slippers and Hongbin’s coat. Wonshik wouldn’t resent the hacker for leaching away his body heat, Jaehwan thought, as he hopped under the covers and curled against the doctor’s broad back. He smiled when Wonshik turned in his sleep and held him close. Wonshik had asked to cuddle, and who was Jaehwan to deny him when he was so toasty?

\---

Sanghyuk sat at the head of the dining room table, nibbling on a piece of buttered toast and wishing he could mainline his coffee instead of drink it. The process of lifting the cup, sipping, swallowing, and lowering it back to the table again was excruciating, and it wasn’t soothing his admittedly mild but incredibly irritating hangover fast enough.

“I want all the details from date night, spill,” Hakyeon said from his seat on Sanghyuk’s right, primly sipping his tea and flipping through a newspaper.

His date was the last thing the criminal wanted to think about right now. Sure, it was perfect and wonderful and everything Sanghyuk had hoped for, right up until the end when Wonshik swooped in and stole Jaehwan away before the criminal had a chance to fuck him senseless. Why did his friend always have to ruin everything?!

Sanghyuk had realized his mistake the instant he saw Wonshik’s face last night. Somewhere in the back of his mind, the criminal had known how bad of an idea the whole thing was. He had been trying too hard to behave the opposite of how Hongbin did, letting the need to be _fun_ override Jaehwan’s safety. Jaehwan had begged, and Sanghyuk had needed to contact his publicist to make sure she had the thing with the tabloids under control, so he hadn’t thought it through. Anyway, they had been in his car, it’s not like the cops would have pulled them over.

The criminal didn’t answer Hakyeon, choosing instead to chug is coffee and let his frustration, both with himself and the doctor, stew noxiously inside his head. When the door opened a few minutes later, Sanghyuk took in the sight of Jaehwan and Wonshik, both freshly showered and doing that _nauseating_ ‘whispers and giggles’ thing.

Sanghyuk stood up politely, the way a gentleman should when his lover entered a room, drinking Jaehwan in. He was in black from head to toe once more, the glaring exception being a deep red oversized coat he had draped over his shoulders like a cape. A thin gold chain lay flat against his chest, shining in contrast with the turtleneck he had on, and a pair of soft leather gloves were tucked artfully into one coat pocket.

The criminal had on a white t-shirt and the quarter zip Jaehwan gave him, but jeans instead of his normal slacks. When getting dressed this morning, his hangover convinced him that dressing casually was a good idea. It hadn’t been. Sanghyuk now felt woefully inadequate when faced with his hacker in, what the criminal privately thought of as, his _‘Parvenu Regalia’_. Even still, the scarlet was shocking in contrast to the paleness of Jaehwan’s skin, and the _Joy_ in the pit of Sanghyuk’s stomach gave a rather painful twinge.

“Good morning, you two,” Jaehwan said silkily, tilting his head as if to _allow_ Sanghyuk to give him a kiss on the cheek before flashing Hakyeon a smile. He sat on Sanghyuk’s left, in the spot the criminal had rather unceremoniously kicked Wonshik out of last week, the doctor sinking into a chair on Jaehwan’s other side.

He watched his hacker’s blonde fringe fall across his eyes as he reached for the coffee pot. The question of _where_ exactly Jaehwan ended up sleeping last night popped to the forefront of Sanghyuk’s mind as he watched Wonshik shoot his hacker a covert glance, sitting slightly closer to Jaehwan than was strictly necessary.

“Good morning! Sleep well?” Hakyeon asked, passing Jaehwan the tiny pitcher of cream. “Superbly,” Jaehwan replied cheerfully, his sleeve pulled up slightly, exposing that god damn Rolex again as he doctored his coffee. Sanghyuk pulled out his phone, sending a quick text to the family’s favorite jeweler, saying to expect him later that day and to have a selection of watches ready.

“Baby, I need to use one of your cars, since I don't have mine,” his hacker continued absently, too focused on drenching his pancakes in syrup to notice Sanghyuk’s suspicious look. “Why?” the criminal asked, sipping his coffee as menacingly as he could, willing the heat behind his eyes to make Wonshik spontaneously combust. It didn’t work.

“I have an appointment this morning, and then I need to stop at home and pick up one of my hard drives.” Sanghyuk’s eyes narrowed even further than they already were. “Appointment with _whom_?” he asked. That question seemed the most pressing, he would get to the thing about ‘home’ in a moment.

“At a salon,” was Jaehwan’s easy reply. “What _kind_ of salon?” he asked, knowing full well that he sounded like a petulant child and not particularly caring. “I have an appointment with my esthetician, for waxing, obviously! Can I borrow a car or are you going to make me walk?” Jaehwan snapped, lowering the bite of pancake that had been halfway to his mouth and glaring at the criminal.

Sanghyuk’s brain short circuited. It appeared something similar had happened to Wonshik, because the doctor choked on his tea, nearly spitting it out. Hakyeon was, as ever, unphased. The criminal had noted Jaehwan’s very light sprinkling of body hair, it was a hard thing to miss when his hacker was sprawled naked underneath him, but he had just assumed that was how Jaehwan was. That his body matched his deceptively youthful face.

“Do you want me to tell you where I’m getting waxed?” Jaehwan asked, his tone mocking, teasing. Before Sanghyuk could get his brain up and running enough to even begin to process that question, his hacker propped his chin on one hand and continued, “My arm hair is naturally pretty light, so I leave that alone. And I’ve never really had any hair on my chest or back at all, but I like getting my legs done. It makes me feel more confident. Oh! And I can’t forget to mention my sweet and supple a-“

“That’s _enough,”_ Sanghyuk interrupted, voice pitched lower than he meant it to be. He just really needed Jaehwan to stop talking before he gave what the criminal assumed would be a detailed description of the more private areas of his body. It wasn’t polite table conversation, and Wonshik looked about two seconds away from having a stroke.

Jaehwan grinned cheekily at Hakyeon, who was chuckling into his mug of tea. “Why don’t you get those roots fixed while you’re at it?” his friend asked, happily gesturing at Jaehwan’s hair. “Mm, I was thinking of going brunette, actually. Getting rebleached every six weeks is starting to wear me down,” Jaehwan replied, examining his reflection in the back of a teaspoon.

Jaehwan would probably be just as gorgeous with brown hair as he was as a blonde, Sanghyuk thought vaguely, but he decided to get back to the matter at hand. “You can take the Porsche, since I know how much you covet it, but you’re _not_ going home. Not while Hongbin is there, and I know he is.”

“Are you spying on my ex-boyfriend? How…” voluptuous lips curling in a barely visibly sneer, “ _Protective_ ,” Jaehwan replied, his eyes running up and down the criminals’ body, blank expression tinged with the barest hint of disgust. “I’m keeping tabs on him, yes, because I don’t trust him not to do something stupid when it comes to you.”

“There’s really no need. I’m a big boy, I can handle myself.” His hacker’s voice had dropped an octave, crossing his arms and sitting back in his chair with such an arrogant set to his mouth that Sanghyuk briefly wondered if he was mimicking Seokjin. Whatever he was doing, it was really fucking unnerving.

“ _That_ is a statement completely at odds with everything I know to be true about you,” Sanghyuk retorted nastily. He didn’t enjoy feeling like he was being mocked, especially by someone he liked so much, and the headache throbbing against the inside of his skull only served to make his temper flair stronger than normal.

Jaehwan rolled his eyes, but replied evenly, “I am going to pick up the things I need after my appointment, and then I will come back and try to finish your project by tonight. If you honestly believe I’m just going to run off and abandon all the work I’ve done, then you’re as bad as Hongbin.”

Those words hit Sanghyuk like a slap. He was nothing like Hongbin, _nothing_. This wasn’t how it worked! Sanghyuk was the one in charge, not Jaehwan. His hacker normally pouted our begged when he didn’t get his way, not toss around cold words that felt more like orders than they should have! He hadn’t behaved this way since their initial meeting, and Sanghyuk didn’t understand it at all.

He also had no clue what he possibly could have done since their fantastic date less than twelve hours ago to warrant Jaehwan’s obvious anger, but he wasn’t in the right headspace to deal with it. He stared at the fingers Jaehwan was using to absentmindedly fiddle with the cuff of Wonshik’s shirtsleeve, and Sanghyuk promptly decided to leave before he shot someone.

“Fine, sweetheart, do what you want,” he replied coolly, pushing his chair back from the table and standing up. He took his mug of coffee with him on his way out, doing his best not to look like he was storming off after losing an argument, and called over his shoulder, “The car is unlocked, and the keys are in the glove compartment.”

At least the criminal tried. Maybe Jaehwan’s new watch would appease him somewhat.

\---

Wonshik was painfully aware of how shifty he looked, chiefly because of how shifty he felt.

Sanghyuk suspected something, the doctor was sure. He could see it in Sanghyuk’s eyes during breakfast the few times he dared to glance at his friend. Although, what he suspected was probably nowhere close to what had actually happened. Thank god for Jaehwan’s well timed waxing speech, it seemed like it had distracted Sanghyuk, at least for the moment.

His friend would never think that Wonshik was capable of betrayal. That’s what he had done, he saw now, in the harsh an unforgiving light of day. He had conspired behind Sanghyuk’s back and let an open enemy into the compound without his boss’s knowledge or permission. If Sanghyuk _ever_ found out, he would quite literally murder the doctor.

And that’s not even mentioning what would happen if he found out Jaehwan had kissed him! Sanghyuk was so incredibly overprotective that he would most likely break every bone in Wonshik’s body. Slowly, excruciatingly, and then leave the doctor alive to let him suffer. That’s exactly what Sanghyuk currently wanted to do to Hongbin, why would Wonshik be any different? Because they were friends? No. That would make everything infinitely worse.

That kiss. That fucking kiss! No matter how much danger it put him in, no matter how insignificant it no doubt was to Jaehwan, Wonshik could not make himself stop thinking about it. And the way he had held the hacker later, the way Jaehwan talked quietly in his sleep, nuzzled his face into Wonshik’s chest with an arm thrown carelessly over the doctor’s torso. _God_ , he could lay like that for the rest of his, now probably very short, life.

“Doctor scaredy-cat?” Hakyeon’s obnoxious and musical voice called, as his friend waltzed into the medical ward. Wonshik jumped, making that particular nickname seem more accurate.

“What do you want? I’m busy,” Wonshik asked, turning to look into the inscrutable eyes of possibly the last person he wanted to see right now. “With what?” Hakyeon asked, his gaze practically x-raying the doctor as he sauntered closer.

“I gave Jaehwan his shot this morning, a slightly increased dose, and I need peace and quiet to write up the report,” Wonshik replied, staring fixedly at his friends left shoulder to avoid his stare. “Are you sure that was such a good idea so soon after he had sex? What with physical exertion wearing down his poor little body?”

Wonshik spluttered. An indignant noise that he had never thought himself capable of making, looking everywhere but at his friend as he exclaimed, “Who is he supposed to have had sex with? He was with me all night!”

“Exactly. Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you our little blonde sugar baby’s newest boytoy?” Thanking whatever god had stopped him from taking Jaehwan up on his ridiculously tempting offer last night, the doctor replied truthfully, “No! You are wrong and you have been corrected!”

“Mm, not for lack of trying on your part, _I’m sure_ ,” Hakyeon said, coming to perch on the corner of Wonshik’s desk. “Then, do you know why he was being such a bitch to Hyoggie?” Wonshik didn’t know, thankfully. Obviously, he had a vague idea that it had something to do with whatever Hongbin had done, but he didn’t actually know what that was.

“Maybe something happened on their date,” the doctor replied, pretending not to be very interested and looking back down at his notebook. “That’s another thing, Hyoggie won’t tell me any date details and has shut himself up in his office again.”

Hakyeon’s expression softened for barely a moment, before his head snapped in Wonshik’s direction. “Tell me what’s going on, right now.” Belatedly, the doctor realized exactly why Sanghyuk wouldn’t have explained what had happened when he and Jaehwan got home. Hakyeon would beat their friend to death with a bat for letting the hacker drink and drive, but mostly for getting in a car that was being driven by someone under the influence.

“I don’t know anything about anything!” was Wonshik’s astute reply. Hakyeon didn’t buy it, and he gave Wonshik a single wrathful look before taking firm hold of the doctor’s ear and dragging him out of the medical ward.

Several minutes of agony later, the two of them reached Sanghyuk’s office and Hakyeon dragged him through the door without bothering to knock. It’s really no surprise to see their boss leaning against the window frame behind his desk, cigarette in hand and eyes sparking with anger.

“Get out, _now_ ,” Sanghyuk growled, going so still it was almost alarming. Hakyeon, ever steady in a conflict and the only person who could get away with talking back, deposited Wonshik on the leather couch and hissed, “No.”

“If you don’t explain to me what happened in the next ten seconds, I will push you out that fucking window,” Hakyeon continued, crossing the office in swift, long strides and grabbing the pack of cigarettes from Sanghyuk’s desk before tossing it underhanded to the doctor. “For medicinal purposes, you look like you’re about to peel your own skin off.”

The second in command encouraging anyone to smoke was unheard of, but Wonshik didn’t question it. Hakyeon’s comment was right on target with how he felt. “I just got finished with a very annoying conference call, and I’m waiting for one of my nightclub owners to respond to my text, so I do not have time for this right now,” Sanghyuk said, his voice carrying an unmistakable threat of imminent violence.

“Five, four, three, two,”

“Fine! Stop counting you fucking weirdo!” Sanghyuk exclaimed impatiently, taking a very long drag on his cigarette before turning his glare on Wonshik. “It’s _his_ fault. He ruined my date and then slept with my beloved as soon as we got home. That’s probably why Jae is in such a pissy mood, mediocre dick can have that affect.”

“Did not!” Wonshik replied, voice cracking in the middle of his outburst. That was only half true, but the doctor felt that he needed to put up a strong defense in this instance.

“Fucking _liar!_ I saw how weird you were acting this morning!” Sanghyuk snapped, actually more of a shout. The faint smoke curling around his head and sharp black eyes made him look like Satan rising from hell to claim Wonshik’s soul, and it was absolutely terrifying.

“We didn’t sleep together! And I only ruined your date because you let him drink and drive, and I was furious at you!” Wonshik said, forcing a bravado he didn’t feel and _kind of_ throwing Sanghyuk under the bus to get the focus off himself.

“Back up, what did you just call Jaehwan? Your- YOU DID WHAT?!” Hakyeon shrieked, followed by a moment of very charged silence. In a blur of motion almost too fast for the doctor to catch, Hakyeon quite literally slapped the cigarette out of Sanghyuk’s mouth.

“Do you know how hard I work to keep you alive?! How much I had to bribe and convince your relatives to let you assume this job so young?! And then you go and put yourself in dangerous situations that you have no need to be in?!”

Hakyeon in a rage was a sight to behold. Wonshik was trying his best to turn invisible, but his body was still stubbornly opaque.

“Is your life not fucking exciting enough for you, Sanghyuk? Is everything we do, the guns and the cars and the violence, has it gotten _boring_ for you?”

“No! I love what I do! My job is the most important thing to me, it’s who I am! But, he-“ Sanghyuk seemed to choke on his words, his outraged expression melting away to be replaced with something like hopeless longing. It was the same look Wonshik had seen when Jaehwan had called his friend a murderer. Anguish.

“He makes me want to be _different_. To be wild and carefree. Being around him is intoxicating to me, and I don’t know why! I can’t help it, I can’t stop trying to show off, so he notices me for once! Usually it’s like he stares right through me, but sometimes- I don’t like this! I don’t like being so affected by someone I barely know!”

Both Hakyeon and the doctor were staring at Sanghyuk, opened mouthed. The criminal looked on the verge of tears, which was startling enough in of its self. He never cried, not in front of them, at least, nor did he bare his feelings like this.

After a moment, Hakyeon took Sanghyuk’s hand, peering into the criminal’s eyes as he asked, “Oh, Hyoggie. You’ve never been truly in love before, have you?”

“I’m _not_ in love! I’ve barely known him two weeks!” Sanghyuk replied, shaking Hakyeon off and picking up his phone, staring blankly at the screen. Wonshik wasn’t close enough to see what he was looking at, but he didn’t have to be. It was that picture of him and Jaehwan kissing. His lock-screen.

“Love doesn’t tell time, Hyoggie. When you know, you just know. It could take many years or only minutes to fall in love,” Hakyeon said, his voice very gentle. Sanghyuk didn’t answer for a full thirty second, but when he did, his curse was so loud it made Wonshik jump for the second time today.

“Shit! Tell time! I have to go see Junmyeon!”

Hakyeon looked taken aback. “Why on earth would you need to see him?” he asked, but Sanghyuk was already grabbing his car keys off his desk and pocketing his phone. “I’m getting Jae a new watch. If I have to see Hongbin’s vile Rolex one more time I’m going to crack it in half!” he called, hurrying right past Wonshik and yanking his office door open.

Hakyeon followed the criminal at a jog, and both were gone in the blink of an eye, leaving Wonshik alone. He hadn’t moved from his spot on the couch, still dumbstruck but his friends’ outpouring of emotion. Sanghyuk did love Jae, that was clear enough, even if his friend denied it. Wonshik hadn’t known, assumed it was just lust making his friend act this way, just a crush. And Jae had gone home to see Hongbin, because of him. _What had he done?!_

**Chapter 14: The Admission**   
**Summary:**

**I am not stupid, I am not helpless, and I am not weak.**

**Notes:**

**DONT DRINK AND DRIVE, AND DONT SMOKE!!!**   
**I felt obligated to remind you of those things, I used to smoke and its NOT sexy!**

_ The Admission _

“Oh, _god!”_ Jaehwan whined, the moment he crossed the threshold of his penthouse.

“Did you ask me to come here for a gangbang? Because if so, I’m not interested,” he continued, each word sounding more affected as the questions left his mouth. “No, we all just want to talk-“

“You can fuck _right_ off, for a start,” Jaehwan snapped, interrupting Seokjin’s honey sweet voice and hanging Hongbin’s scarlet coat in the hall closet. “Why are you all in my house?” he asked, crossing his arms and spinning to face the three people in his living room.

Hongbin (his new short hair still seemed foreign to Jaehwan after so many years of long curls) was standing in between Taekwoon and Seokjin, and all looked grim. “Baby, we really do need to talk to you,” Hongbin replied, holding a hand out for the hacker. Jaehwan didn’t take it.

“Did it occur to you that I never want to speak to or see you ever again?” Jaehwan asked, giving his ex-best friend a look that could have melted steel. “Yes, but I’m a constant fixture in your life. You’d miss me too much if I ditched you _again,_ ” Seokjin replied, winking and delicately resting his palm on Hongbin’s shoulder.

The hacker’s temper flared instantly. “Don’t fucking touch him, poisonous bitch! And get the fuck out of my penthouse!” he snarled, glaring at Seokjin for all he was worth. To his complete annoyance, the other coder flashed his signature catlike smile and didn’t move.

Knowing this line of conversation would only end in a real fight, and not having the energy for it at the moment, Jaehwan turned to face Taekwoon. “What’s your excuse, Taek? We don’t have any emotional baggage, so I’m guessing you aren’t here to torment me. Or, are you going to tell me that you and Binnie have been fucking on the side for years or something?”

“No, I’m here to pass along some information,” the thief replied, glancing momentarily at Hongbin, who had shaken Seokjin off and stepped away. “What information is that? Talk quickly, I’m not staying long.”

“Do you know you and Sanghyuk were in the newspaper?” Seokjin asked, head cocked and hand on hip. “Yes, obviously. What does that have to do with anything?” Jaehwan replied coldly, crossing to the kitchen and grabbing a bottled coffee from the fridge. The hacker mentally cursed which ever architect had designed their open-concept apartment. It meant there was nowhere to hide.

“Baby, don’t have coffee, it’s not good for-“

“I will drink whatever I _damn well please!_ You lost the privilege to tell me what to do when you stuck your dick in that skank!” Jaehwan shouted, whirling and throwing the bottlecap at Hongbin’s head. Unfortunately, the gamer neatly dodged it and gave Jaehwan an exasperated look.

“Getting back to why we’re here,” Taekwoon said, raising his normally soft voice to catch everyone’s attention. “Being seen in public with Sanghyuk was a terrible idea. People in… my circle have taken note, and in all probability, you now have a target on your back. You’re guilty by association. I’m only telling you this because Kong is my friend and you getting hurt would hurt him too.”

“There’s similar gossip going around in our circle,” Seokjin said, filling the silence that followed Taekwoon’s words. “You would already know that if you ever checked the stupid forum or talked to any of our friends. I swear to god, I have gotten 13 phone calls about you this morning, not including all the spam I woke up to.”

“The fact that I also work for Sanghyuk isn’t public knowledge, but the fact that we’re close is. Everyone either wants you to get them a job with him, or they want to know what the hell you’re doing messing around with such a notorious criminal.”

“And since when do I care about gossip?” Jaehwan hissed, trying not to think about Taekwoon’s ominous words and crossing over to the couch. “Any time that it benefits you. Don’t put an act on for me, I know you way too well for that to work,” Seokjin replied, coming to collapse on the cushion next to him.

The hacker did his best to ignore it, but the second Seokjin’s finger brushed his thigh, Jaehwan _snapped_. “I swear to fucking god, I’m going to take a vow of celibacy! I’m already dealing with a jackass, a piece of shit, and a tatted-up teddy bear! I don’t need you joining the party, get off me!”

Seokjin feigned a very offended expression, hand over his heart accompanied by a loud sniffle. The works. “I might become a monk, remind me how much fun it was, Binnie,” Jaehwan continued, glaring over at the more recent of his two ex’s and trying to ignore how much seeing him and Seokjin in the same room was breaking his heart.

“I was like five years old, and you love dick too much to successfully pull off that lifestyle. But, baby, this is serious,” Hongbin replied, coming to kneel at Jaehwan’s feet. He took one of the hacker’s hands, before continuing, “Taek’s people are no joke, and I don’t know how to keep you safe. Other than like, publicly distancing yourself from the Han family, and that might not even be enough.”

This new information was incredibly worrying, if Jaehwan was truthful, but he wasn’t sure he could handle being in this room for much longer. He had only come here in the first place because he wanted to talk to Hongbin about what happened between them last night, but this wasn’t the time. It clearly hadn’t been real.

“Nice watch, by the way,” Hongbin added quietly, poking Jaehwan’s wrist. His dimples flashed when he smiled, and Jaehwan’s heart ached painfully. “Yeah, nice bracelet, _oh wait_ , no! You aren’t wearing it! I’m honestly not surprised, I’m sure you broke it in a fit of passion or something,” Jaehwan said sharply, not understanding the charged silence that followed.

“Anyway… I don’t think Sanghyukkie will let anything happen to me, so don’t hurt your poor little brains worrying too much.” The hacker saw Hongbin flinch at the criminals’ name, but he pretended he hadn’t noticed.

He stood up, nudging Hongbin out of the way with his knee before walking quickly in the direction of his office. Once he had retrieved the hard drive he needed (that hadn’t been a lie, the hacker had just taken advantage of good timing) and nestled it in his favorite leather messenger bag, Jaehwan hurried back down the hall and made straight for the door.

“Baby don’t leave! We have more to talk about,” Hongbin exclaimed, catching Jaehwan’s arm before he made it outside.

“You lost your chance to talk to me!” Jaehwan hissed, shaking Hongbin off. “I can finally see exactly what kind of person you are, Lee Hongbin. You took advantage of my- of me and treated me like a toy, just so you could lure me back here and talk down to me. Like I’m so vapid that I don’t understand the consequences of my own actions. Get this in your head, and don’t forget it; I am not _stupid_ , I am not _helpless_ , and I am not _weak_. I don’t need you medaling in my life anymore.”

With that, the hacker spun on his heels and stomped out of the place he called _home_ , taking a sip of his lidless bottle of coffee and stepping into the elevator. Only once he reached the chilly garage, did Jaehwan realize that Hongbin had kept the penthouse heated up for him. The hacker slid into the driver’s seat of the Porsche, rested his forehead on the steering wheel, and broke down in tears.

\---

“So, what do you think?” Sanghyuk asked, trying his best to hide his nervousness as he flipped open the lid of the box in his hand.

Hakyeon’s eyes widened to the point that the criminal worried they would pop right out of his head. His second in command reached out to touch the watched nestled atop the crushed black velvet, but he didn’t seem to be able to make his fingers come within six inches of it. “It’s exquisite,” Hakyeon breathed, staring at the time piece, transfixed.

It _was_ exquisite, Sanghyuk thought, looking down at the gift. It was a Patek Philippe masterpiece, the face delicately crafted of black and blue sapphire-crystal, encased in platinum and secured by a hand-stitched, navy-blue band. It told the time, of course, but the watch itself displayed a moving star chart of the milky way, as well as a small moon that waxed and waned according to the current phase. Sanghyuk couldn’t help picturing it adorning Jaehwan’s slim wrist, and his heart fluttered a bit.

“I don’t mean to be rude, and I’m not judging your shopping choices, but I’ve seen your nerds Rolex, and I’d guess it was worth about ten grand. This, judging by the brand alone… How much did it cost?” Hakyeon asked, leaning forwards so he could inspect the watch up close. “Have a look,” Sanghyuk replied, closing the box and setting it on his desk before fishing the receipt from his front pocket.

After staring at the slip of paper for a good five seconds, Hakyeon looked up. “I think there’s a typo, the decimal point is too far to the right.” Sanghyuk rolled his eyes and snatched the receipt back, placing it in the top drawer of his desk before replying, “No, it’s correct and I paid in cash.”

“Okay, let me get this straight. You’re paying your nerd a million dollars for this job, correct?” Sanghyuk nodded. “And, by giving him this, you will actually be paying him the equivalent of 1.3 million dollars?” Sanghyuk nodded again.

“I have expensive taste, this shouldn’t be too surprising,” the criminal replied, sliding the box over to himself and cradling it in one hand. “It’s not, but- I mean… for him?”

Before Sanghyuk had to chance to snap a harsh retort, the sound of the front gates opening, and the high-pitched whine of the Porsche’s engine could be heard. Jaehwan was back.

The criminal pushed his way around Hakyeon, leaving his office and hurrying down stairs, only half registering that his friend was jogging after him. When Sanghyuk reached the front door, he found Jaehwan standing on the gravel driveway, the door of the Porsche still open, staring blankly at the sky. His striking coat from the morning was gone, and so, Sanghyuk noticed belatedly, was his Rolex.

Jaehwan was shivering, his face clearly tearstained and eyes the slightest bit puffy. He looked so fragile, Sanghyuk thought. He imagined there should be a sign hung around his hacker’s neck that read _‘Handle with Care’_.

“Sweetheart?” Sanghyuk asked, but Jaehwan didn’t respond. He hadn’t even blinked, it was like he hadn’t heard the criminal speak. “Hyung, can you please put the car in the garage?” the criminal continued, looking back at his second in command. Hakyeon nodded, strolling over to the Porsche and lowering himself into the driver’s seat. Sanghyuk, in the meantime, had stepped right in front of his hacker and brushed his bangs off his face.

“Jae, are you alright? Did your… appointment this morning hurt you?” Sanghyuk asked, the car’s engine purring to life and slowly pulling away. He didn’t think he could bring himself to actually say the word _waxing._ Jaehwan shook his head, finally surfacing from his day dream and stepping closer, resting his head on the criminals’ shoulder.

The _joy_ in the pit of Sanghyuk’s stomach expanded, seeming to fill him up as he wrapped his arms around Jaehwan’s slim frame. “I’m sorry for being a brat during breakfast,” his hacker said softly. 

“It’s fine, it’s ok to have bad days sometimes. Where’s your coat?” Sanghyuk replied, dotting kisses on the crown of Jaehwan’s blonde head. “I left it at home, I didn’t want it anymore,” Jaehwan whispered, burrowing against the criminal’s chest. Holding Jaehwan close like this, inhaling his faint cedar-wood and lavender smell, Sanghyuk realized that he would do _anything_ , anything at all, to put a smile back on Jaehwan’s beautiful face.

“I have a present for you,” the criminal said, just as Jaehwan whispered, “We need to talk.”

Sanghyuk went completely still. Was Jaehwan going to quit? Or leave? Did he never want to see the criminal again? Was he going back to Hongbin? Sanghyuk’s mind was spitting out panicked questions faster than he could process them.

“It’s about security stuff, so we should probably talk in private,” Jaehwan continued, looking up at the criminal as Sanghyuk exhaled a shaky laugh. “ _Oh_ ok, that’s fine. Let’s go talk in my office,” he replied, draping an arm over his hacker’s shoulder and steering him into the mansion.

“Sorry, I know ‘we need to talk’ is like, every guy’s trigger,” Jaehwan murmured, letting himself be led up the stairs. Once back in the criminals’ office, Jaehwan hurried over to the window behind Sanghyuk’s desk and slid it open. He hadn’t noticed the velvet box, thank god, so Sanghyuk hastily deposited it in his desk drawer.

His hacker rummaged around in his messenger bag before pulling out something very surprising. “You smoke?” Sanghyuk asked, too taken aback to believe what he was seeing. “Only when I’m distraught,” Jaehwan replied, peeling the plastic wrap off a pack of Marlboro menthols and flicking a baby pink lighter.

Obviously, Sanghyuk did _not_ think that his hacker should be partaking, considering his condition. _However_ , watching a thin curl of smoke drift lazily out of Jaehwan’s mouth was strangely sexy, so he kept quiet. “Don’t tell Wonshik,” Jaehwan added, the tension in his shoulders relaxing and his sad expression slowly disappearing. The criminal nodded.

“Anyway, I was ambushed at my penthouse this morning, and it would seem that my life is in peril. More than usual, I mean,” Jaehwan said, his tone surprisingly conversational. “Who told you this? In danger from what?” the criminal asked.

“Remember the guy who I helped rob you and bugged my computer? His people.” Sanghyuk’s eyes narrowed. “And, why would Jung Taekwoon be threatening you?” he asked, hastily lighting a cigarette for himself (from his own pack, he detested menthols) to try and keep his rising stress level under control.

“No, no. He isn’t threatening me, he warned me. It would seem that our little tabloid exposé made the rounds, and now I’m guilty by association,” Jaehwan replied, turning his head and exhaling out the window. “I said that I didn’t think you would let anything happen to me, so I’m kind of counting on you to stop me from getting murdered.”

“And you just assumed I would protect you for free? That’s not how my business model works,” Sanghyuk said smoothly, flashing his favorite sly smile. Of course, he would protect his hacker, with his life if necessary, but Sanghyuk didn’t want to sound too accommodating. Jaehwan looked over at him through have closed eyes.

He took the few necessary steps to close the distance between them and traced the lapel of Sanghyuk’s jacket with the tip of his finger. “Is my company not entertaining enough for you to keep me alive, baby?” Jaehwan asked, his luscious lips coming together in a pout.

Sanghyuk was completely powerless when his hacker pouted, he was putty in Jaehwan’s hands. “I don’t keep you around for your winning personality, sweetheart, but I guess you’re right” he replied, slapping his hacker’s ass playfully before taking a drag on his cigarette.

The joke earned him, unsurprisingly, a smack on the chest. “So, you mentioned a present for me,” Jaehwan said, clearly trying to sound uninterested and failing. Sanghyuk hummed his assent, but he waited for them to finish smoking before opening his desk drawer.

“Well, sweetheart, I paid a visit to one of my favorite jewelers while you were out, and I thought this would look nice on you,” the criminal said nonchalantly, holding the box out. Jaehwan eyed it hesitantly. “Did you steal it?” he asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. 

Sanghyuk chuckled and took one of his hackers’ hands, laying the box flat on his palm. “No, and I have the receipt if you don’t believe me. Open it.”

“No offense, but you are a professional criminal! I had to ask,” Jaehwan replied, flipping the lid open and looking at the watch. Sanghyuk heard his hackers’ sharp inhalation, an expression of complete shock on his face.

Jaehwan wasn’t moving. It didn’t even look like he was breathing. He stared at his gift for so long that the criminal began to worry he didn’t like it. “Is it ok? Do you want to try it on?” Sanghyuk asked, bending down a bit to peer into his hackers’ face.

There was no reply for a full ten seconds, but then, Jaehwan nodded slowly. He didn’t take his eyes off the watch as the criminal lifted it from its velvet nest and secured it around Jaehwan’s wrist.

“Okay, the suspense is killing me. Do you like it or not?” Sanghyuk asked, after watching Jaehwan stare at his gift for another minute. “It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life,” his hacker replied, voice very quiet.

An enormous smile broke across the criminals’ face, and he lightly tapped Jaehwan’s nose. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” He didn’t care how cringy he sounded, he meant it.

“Thank you,” Jaehwan breathed, finally looking up. He stared up at the criminal for a moment with a look that resembled awe, before wrapping his hand around the back of Sanghyuk’s neck and going on tiptoe, kissing him deeply.

Just like that, Sanghyuk’s hand circled his hacker’s waist tightly, cupping Jaehwan’s cheek with the other as he returned the kiss and pulled Jaehwan against him. His hacker melted into his embrace. Sanghyuk lost track of everything else around him.

He pulled away only an inch to lean his forehead against Jaehwan’s, his eyes still closed as he whispered, “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

Jaehwan slid his hands under the criminals’ sweater and latched onto his hips, moaning softly into the kiss as he pressed himself even closer. Breaking the kiss for only a moment, Jaehwan let go and yanked his turtleneck over his head. He was back a second later, numb fingers fumbling with the fastenings of the criminals’ jeans.

Sanghyuk’s tongue slipped into his hackers’ mouth, moving in perfect sync with the other, clinging to Jaehwan’s waist as if his hacker would float away.

The criminal broke the kiss and looked down at Jaehwan’s body. Not bothering to be careful, Sanghyuk unzipped his hacker’s slacks so roughly that the button on the waistband popped off. “I’ll buy you new ones,” he growled, before letting the broken garment slide down Jaehwan’s legs and pool around his ankles.

Jaehwan didn’t seem fazed, pressing his lip’s to Sanghyuk’s throat and pawing at the criminal’s crotch almost frantically. Sanghyuk picked his hacker up with one arm, Jaehwan’s legs wrapping around him as he hastily pushed the stuff off on his desk to the side with one hand and sat Jaehwan down on it.

The hackers’ breathing was heavy, and his eyes had darkened with lust as their lips met once again. Sanghyuk kissed him hungrily, running his hands through Jaehwan’s thick, blonde hair.

Jaehwan used his legs to pull the criminal closer, rolling his hips against Sanghyuk’s. The criminal groaned, feeling Jaehwan hardening against him. Jaehwan began run his lips down the column of the criminal’s neck, leaving red marks where his mouth had been.

Their eyes locked, Sanghyuk growling softly and quickly unclasped his own belt. He dropped it on the office floor, eyes roaming across Jaehwan’s body. Jaehwan was tall, but didn’t look it in this moment, leaning back and propping himself up on one arm. His necklace and new watch were still on, as well as several rings, and the jewelry glistened against his fair skin. The subtly defined muscles of his hackers’ abdomen were expanding and contracting, his breath shallow and eyes pleading.

Sanghyuk held tight to the outside of Jaehwan’s thigh and fished his wallet out of his back pocket, pulling out a condom and packet of lube before dropping that on the floor as well. Jaehwan snatched them out of his hand, tossing the condom behind him and tearing the lube packet open with his teeth. The criminal didn’t protest.

He watched intently as Jaehwan slicked up his own fingers and lay back flat on the desk, reaching down and sliding one inside. Jaehwan moaned softly, but his hacker’s moans quickly became louder as he added another finger and begin to push them in and out.

His pace was fast, rocking his hips down as if he couldn’t stretch himself quickly enough. He continued sliding his fingers in and out, adding a third and staring up at the criminal. Jaehwan’s hooded eyes fluttered, as if he was having trouble keeping them open. His plush lips parted, red and kiss swollen and glistening with a thin sheen of saliva. Sanghyuk was mesmerized.

“Baby, Sanghyukkie, _please_ ,” Jaehwan begged, his head dropping back onto the desk as he whimpered the criminals name.

Sanghyuk let it go on for another minute. That was as long as he could manage to wait, watching Jaehwan work himself open until he was a hot and sweaty mess. The criminal pulled his sweater and t-shirt off over his head, tugging his jeans and boxers down just enough, before pushing Jaehwan’s hand away and entering him all the way.

He stayed still, giving his hacker time to adjust, listening to Jaehwan’s quiet whimpers. Sanghyuk braced his hands on either side of Jaehwan, looking into his eyes as his hacker squirmed beneath him. “You really are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Jaehwan’s arms circled the criminal, hands on his broad back as Sanghyuk pulled away and then snapped his hips forward. The hacker whined, high pitched and breathy, his nails leaving light scratches across Sanghyuk’s shoulder blades.

The criminal began thrusting in earnest, tangling his fingers in Jaehwan’s hair and yanking his head back, pressing his lips against the skin at the base of Jaehwan’s exposed throat. The hackers’ legs were still wrapped tightly around Sanghyuk’s waist, and the criminal groaned as Jaehwan rocked his hips, working himself closer.

Sanghyuk moved his other hand up Jaehwan’s thigh and across the side of his torso before running his thumb around the hacker’s nipple. Jaehwan gasped and shut his eyes, all of the different sensations overwhelming him. The criminals’ thrusts became harder and faster.

His hand slid back down Jaehwan’s body, gripping his waist, his thumb moving in small circles across his hacker’s hip bone. Jaehwan was biting his bottom lip, his sobs uncontrollable as Sanghyuk fucked into him. “Fuck baby, more, _more_!” Jaehwan whimpered, and the criminal obliged.

Jaehwan felt the Sanghyuk’s lips move against his skin, his hot breath against the hackers’ collar bone. He gave Jaehwan a love bite as he thrust faster, and Jaehwan choked out moan.

Sanghyuk couldn’t get enough of his hacker; every touch was like fire. He released Jaehwan’s hair and ran his hand up the back of his hacker’s thigh slowly, reveling in the smoothness of his milky skin. The heat in the pit of the criminals’ stomach increased as a wave of emotion surged up inside him. He wanted to hold Jaehwan forever. For Jaehwan to be his forever.

Jaehwan thought he had lost the ability to speak, his brain certainly wasn’t forming anything close to coherent. But a wave of pleasure ran through him that was so strong, he whined, “Fuck... baby, s-so _good_...”

“You like it, sweetheart?” Sanghyuk panted, switching the angle of his thrusts so he hit Jaehwan’s sweet spot. His hacker yelped, nodding vigorously and raising his hands to grip the edge of the desk.

Sanghyuk knew he was getting close, so he reached down and ran his hand along Jaehwan’s cock, matching the rhythm of his thrusts. The pitch of Jaehwan’s whining was getting higher and higher, wriggling in Sanghyuk’s hold.

The criminal’s thrusts were getting sloppy, and he leaned down further to nip Jaehwan’s bottom lip before purring, “Come for me, sweetheart, come for me.”

Jaehwan’s stomach muscles clenched, and Sanghyuk watched him come undone. His hacker’s entire body trembling, back arched and whimpering the criminal’s name and he came onto his stomach.

Sanghyuk hid his face in the juncture between Jaehwan’s shoulder and neck, filling his hacker up and murmuring _‘I love you, I love you’_ too softly for Jaehwan to hear. He moved slowly, riding out the pleasure and laying a trail of kisses across Jaehwan’s chest.

The criminal pulled out gently, the loss of contact making Jaehwan whine, before grabbing his shirt off the floor and using it to wipe them off. Jaehwan was still panting, his head lolling to the side and eyes shut.

Sanghyuk looked down at his prone lover, completely transfixed. Each detail was more exquisite than the last. The slight dip between Jaehwan’s collarbones, the sweeping line of his neck, the way the tips of his ears flushed. Sanghyuk’s feelings were almost overwhelming in their strength. He prayed Jaehwan hadn’t heard his whispered confession.

“Time for lunch, I’m _starving_ ,” Jaehwan said, holding his arm over his face to check the time. He grinned, waving his wrist in the air, playfully displaying his new watch. Sanghyuk could do nothing but stare as his hacker stood up and pulled his briefs back on, and then his slacks, wearing Sanghyuk’s belt to keep his broken pants closed before coming over and rebuttoning Sanghyuk’s jeans for him.

His admission had wiped everything else from the criminal’s mind. Hakyeon had been right, Sanghyuk had known before his friend said anything, but he had never expected himself to actually say it out loud. It seemed he had taken Hakyeon’s words this morning to heart in more ways than one.

“Sanghyukkie? Are you still with us?” Jaehwan asked, his clear voice breaking through the thoughts swirling in the criminals’ mind. Sanghyuk hummed, hugging his hacker against him and kissing his temples. “I have to attend a very stuffy party tonight, and I’m sure your presence would make it much more enjoyable. Come with me. If you aren’t too busy with our project, that is,” Sanghyuk murmured, all thoughts of their pre-sex conversation forgotten.

“You’re giving me another night off? How generous, boss!” Jaehwan replied, poking the criminal’s stomach. “Do you normally bring arm candy when you go mingle with politicians?”

The criminal smirked, his hands sliding down to rest on Jaehwan’s lower back. “Occasionally, but we will have to find you something suitable to wear.” Jaehwan made a very indignant noise, shimmying out of Sanghyuk’s arms and holding his hands over his head. “I could show up like this and it would be more than suitable! Probably cure a few old men of erectile dysfunction!” he exclaimed, twirling in place and plastering an exaggeratedly sultry look on his face.

“You’d certainly turn some heads, but you need a bit more jewelry if you’re going to go shirtless,” Sanghyuk replied, grinning before picking Jaehwan up by the waist and throwing him over his shoulder. His hacker yelped in surprise but was giggling by the time they reached the door.

“Lunch?” Jaehwan asked happily, tapping on Sanghyuk’s back like he was playing drums. The criminal reached up and smacked the back of Jaehwan’s thigh as he carried his hacker down the hall. “Lunch.”

There was an inscription on the underside of Jaehwan’s new watch, but the criminal didn’t say anything about it. Jaehwan could discover it on his own.

_‘Love doesn’t tell time’_


	2. Chapters 15 - 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *TW WARNING*  
> There is a brief mention of attempted Sui in this section. its in the section where Wonshik is texting Magical Theif (Taekwoon), to try and get info on Jaehwan's past.  
> if you see: ‘This is going to take a minute to type out so hang on.’  
> its a few paragraphs after that, so if its a sensitive subject for you, just skip to the next <~~~~~> symbol.

**Chapter 15: The Threat**   
**Summary:**

**“Can I help you?” Jaehwan asked, putting a hand on his hip and looking the man up and down. “Yes,” the man replied, matter-of-fact.**

_ The Threat: _

**Unknown Number:**

**Received at 10:26 pm**

_‘Kim Wonshik?’_

**You:**

**Sent at 10:27 pm**

_‘Who’s asking?’_

_‘Unimportant. I require your assistance.’_

_‘Hongbin? Did you get a new number just to fuck with me?’_

_‘If you don’t want Lee Jaehwan to be killed, you will do what I say. If you refuse, the consequences will be fatal.’_

_‘This isn’t funny! Who are you?’_

_‘I am not joking Mr. Kim.’_

_‘Im not helping you, fucking psycho!’_

_‘Then, unfortunately for you, the hacker is going to die sooner than expected.’_

_‘Goodbye.’_

_‘What the fuck?!’_

_‘Don’t hurt Jaehwan!’_

_‘Hello?’_

**You:**

**Sent at 10:29 pm**

‘Sanghyuk!’

‘Some crazy person just texted me threatening Jae!’

**Hyulk:**

**Received at 10:29 pm**

_**This is an automated message: I’m sorry I missed your text. I am currently unable to reply, but I will read this and respond at my earliest convenience. Thank you for your patience.**_

_‘God damn it!!!!!’_

**You:**

**Sent at 10:29 pm**

_‘Hakyeon!!! Are you with Sanghyuk?’_

**Scarier Than the Actual Boss:**

**Received at 10:29**

_‘No, he took his nerd to that reception, remember?’_

_‘FUCK SHIT ok listen’_

_‘I just got a super weird message from a blocked number asking me to help them or they were going to kill Jae! Idk who they were or what they wanted help with, but I said no, and they stopped answering!! What do I do!?’_

_‘Breathe.’_

_‘Take a car and one of the men and go to Kim Seokjin’s house. The other nerd. I’ll let him know you’re on the way and maybe he can do some of that tech magic and figure out who was texting you. I’ll send you his address in a minute.’_

_‘I’m already downtown, I just finished a job, so I’ll go to Hyoggie myself and tell him what’s going on. I’ll let you know as soon as I’m there, he won’t let anything happen to Jaehwan. Trust me.’_

_‘Ok, I’m taking the Benz, but the guard is driving so we get there faster. THANK YOU!!!!’_

**You:**

**Sent at 10:36 pm**

_‘Jyani, are you there?’_

_‘Answer me please!’_

_‘Literally the second you see this, text me back!’_

\---

“It’s already almost 11, don’t all these seniors need to go to bed soon?” Jaehwan asked in a whisper, clinging to Sanghyuk’s arm and going on tiptoe so that only he could hear.

Despite the party being very stuffy, as the criminal said it would be, it also turned out to be immense fun. They were both in tuxedo’s (there was already one hanging in Jaehwan’s closet at the mansion, magically tailored to fit him like everything else), but the criminal’s hair was down, soft and swept across his forehead. It was part of his image, he had told Jaehwan, to make himself look younger. It worked, but just barely. They had brought two bodyguards along who were tailing them closely, but not obtrusively so, which seemed to be somewhat of a trend in this large room. Every guest had at least one security person.

“You’d be surprised how long these go on for. My first party didn’t end until 3am, and the mayor drank me under the table,” Sanghyuk replied, speaking so close to Jaehwan’s ear that the hacker shivered involuntarily.

“And how old were you, twelve?” Jaehwan asked, grinning impishly and pinching Sanghyuk’s side. The criminal chuckled, pulling Jaehwan a bit closer as they were approached by a woman the hacker hadn’t met yet.

The woman was tall, surprisingly so, only about an inch shorter than Jaehwan himself, with sleek black hair ending just below her jaw and equally black eyes. She looked to be in her early thirties, but Jaehwan guessed she was actually around 40, the hem of her deep red gown whispering across the hardwood floor like backup music to the sharp click of her heels. Her aura was formidable, to say the least.

“Hello, my darling. It’s been _much_ too long,” she said, her voice gravely but melodic, like honey dripping down a sheet of sandpaper.

That greeting was a bit odd, to Jaehwan’s ear. She seemed kind of old for Sanghyuk, but she was undeniably beautiful, and the hacker had no trouble picturing the criminal with girls. Maybe they used to be lovers? Jaehwan didn’t like women the way he liked men (as if that wasn’t clear as day to everyone who saw him). Outside of platonic relationships, they just weren’t his taste. But even he could see that this striking woman would have absolutely no trouble attracting a flock of admirers.

She did not acknowledge Jaehwan’s existence, but the hacker felt Sanghyuk go the slightest bit tense as she stepped forward and pressed her bony cheek to the criminals, a parody of a kiss.

“Mother,” Sanghyuk replied, both his face and voice schooled to careful blankness.

Jaehwan’s jaw dropped. _Oh god!_ He was meeting the parents! Or one of them, at least! The one that was still alive! One was plenty, Jaehwan thought, straightening his posture and clearing his throat.

“This is my associate, Lee Jaehwan. Jae, this is my mother, Han Harin,” the criminal said, this introduction sounding more formal than when Jaehwan had met the mayor.

The woman, Harin, didn’t turn, but her luminous eyes swiveled in the hacker’s direction, almost piercing with their intensity. She gave Jaehwan a cursory once-over, her expression making it very clear that she was unimpressed.

“The security consultant, if I’m not mistaken,” she said, obviously addressing Sanghyuk, but keeping her gaze on Jaehwan’s face. “Yes, he’s helping me strengthen the compound’s protective network and early warning system,” Sanghyuk lied, sounding so natural that the hacker himself was almost convinced.

“Nice to meet you,” Jaehwan said, flashing his cutest smile. He was trying his hardest not to act arrogant or snobby, the way he normally did when he met people. The hacker wanted to make a good impression. He held out his hand to shake, but Sanghyuk’s mother didn’t take it.

“Where is my sweet Hakyeon? I haven’t seen him this evening and he would surely brighten up this drab atmosphere. I need my dance partner,” Harin asked, returning her gaze to her son. Sanghyuk sighed, replying evenly, “He’s working.”

Of course, this woman would like Hakyeon. The second in command could behave almost as austerely as she did, they would go well together. At least Jaehwan’s guess about Hakyeon being a dancer seemed to be correct.

Jaehwan lowered his hand, which he had been holding out like a dumbstruck idiot and reached to weave his fingers with Sanghyuk’s, curling his other arm back around the criminal’s like a python. Why did parents always dislike him? Jaehwan had no idea, but Seokjin’s parents had hated him on sight, and Hongbin’s mom refused to speak to her son for months after they were introduced. It wasn’t fair! Maybe anyone over 30 was allergic to him.

Harin eyed their clasped hands, Jaehwan belatedly realizing that he must look like a needy child, hanging off the criminal like this. “You’re sleeping with him, I assume?” she asked, still addressing her son, lip curling in displeasure. “Mother,” Sanghyuk said, in a warning tone that Harin ignored.

“Predilections aside, you could do _so much_ better, my darling. Why are you wasting your time with this bourgeois bottle-blonde? You’re the heir of one of the most prestigious dynasties in the country, you should be getting married to someone _worthy_ of your status.”

_Well_ … that stung. It wasn’t like Jaehwan was expecting this woman to compliment him, but he didn’t think she would be so flat out rude.

“Mother, that’s _enough_ ,” Sanghyuk snapped, eyes sparking with anger as he squeezed Jaehwan’s hand. Harin looked back at her son with the same fire, and the hacker realized that Sanghyuk must have learned how to intimidate people from her.

“Do _not_ speak to me so rudely,” Harin said, all the honey gone from her voice. Jaehwan took the charged silence that followed as an opportunity to escape. This was uncomfortable enough without him standing there gawking.

“I have to use the restroom, I’ll leave you two to speak privately,” the hacker said, releasing Sanghyuk’s hand and taking a step back. The criminal caught his arm, murmuring, “I’ll come find you in a few minutes, don’t wander off.” Jaehwan nodded, sketched Harin a perfunctory bow, and then hastily took his leave. He clearly heard Sanghyuk’s mother say _“Low class trash”_ under her breath before he lost himself in the crowd.

Now, Jaehwan understood full well why Sanghyuk didn’t stay in contact with his mother. Growing up with such a cold woman must have been terrible! The criminal hadn’t said much about her the one time she came up in conversation, only telling Jaehwan that she was alive and living somewhere in Seoul. He forgot to mention that she was also a hateful bitch, but Jaehwan would never actually say that to his face.

Jaehwan weaved in and out of small groups of people, waving and smiling at the ones he knew, before finally making it to the bathroom. He didn’t actually need to use it, but he wanted to be somewhere quiet, if only for a minute. He had left his phone in the car, Sanghyuk had insisted since he wanted the hacker’s undivided attention tonight, so he just stared at himself in the mirror.

How did Harin know? How could she tell he wasn’t a born aristocrat like everyone else here? He certainly looked like one, in this fancy suit with his fancy makeup and fancy new watch. Jaehwan was still in awe of his gift. A phone was one thing, but this intricate and beautiful watch was more like wearable art than a functional time piece. He tore his gaze away from his own reflation and slipped the watch off his wrist, holding it up to his face.

The little yellow moon was almost full, and the second hand ticked silently in rhythmic circles as he stared. 10:52, it read. Jaehwan glanced back at the mirror. Through the lacing of his fingers, he could just make out the back of the watch. He was surprised that he hadn’t looked at it yet! He flipped it over and inspected the moving clockwork, gears upon gears rotating slowly under the clear case. He was watching it so intently that he almost missed the faint lettering next to the hinge attaching the face to the band. He rotated the watch and blinked rapidly.

_‘Love doesn’t tell time’_. It was written there, plain as day, in what looked to be a mimicry of the font Snell Roundhand. Jaehwan stopped breathing. Sanghyuk said he had just happened to see the watch and thought it would look nice on the hacker. Jaehwan hadn’t questioned it, too overwhelmed with the beauty of the gift to wonder why the criminal was in a jewelry store in the first place. Had he gone there specifically to find something for Jaehwan, or was it truly happenstance?

Sanghyuk had said nothing about an inscription, maybe he didn’t know it was there! Maybe someone had ordered it and then never paid, so the jeweler just had it lying around. ‘Love doesn’t tell time’. _Love, love, love._ Jaehwan’s mind was racing. The criminal would have seen the writing, he wouldn’t have bought something like this without thoroughly inspecting it first! Jaehwan knew how Sanghyuk felt… kind of. He knew the criminal was a little smitten, if nothing else, but he assumed it was just a crush!

Jaehwan couldn’t deny his own little crush on the criminal. Sanghyuk was gorgeous, but that wasn’t news, and he was so physical. Energy just rolled off him in waves. Jaehwan liked that about him. Their attraction to one and other was clear as well, Sanghyuk moved around him like they were tied together with an invisible rope. And the sex was magic, obviously. But _love_? No. No, Jaehwan thought, trying to convince himself. It was just a crush. He would ask, because clarification was definitely necessary.

Jaehwan slid the watch back on his wrist and made sure the clasp was secure before leaning over the sink and fixing a bit of eyeliner that had smudged. He glared at the roots of his hair, trying to turn them blonde with the power of his mind, but it didn’t work. He would have to just suck it up and go to the salon.

Someone coughed from over by the bathroom door and Jaehwan jumped. He hadn’t heard anyone come in. The hacker looked over his shoulder.

It wasn’t Sanghyuk, nor was it either of the bodyguards who had accompanied them. They had stayed with the criminal when Jaehwan left, since he was the more likely target if something were to happen. He vaguely recognized this man, but he couldn’t place exactly where he had seen him before.

“Can I help you?” Jaehwan asked, putting a hand on his hip and looking the man up and down. “Yes,” the man replied, matter-of-fact. He was a bit shorter than the hacker, with very pretty heart-shaped lips and wavy dark hair. Aside from Sanghyuk, he was the only other person at the party who looked even close to Jaehwan’s age.

He took a few steps away from the door, watching the hacker intently. “If you’re propositioning me, I’m here with someone so don’t waste your time,” Jaehwan said evenly, watching the man as he continued moving closer. “Seriously, I’ve broken someone’s nose once already this week and I’m not in the mood to do it again.”

“That’s not what you can help me with, although I wouldn’t say no if you offered,” the man replied, winking. He stood right in front of the hacker now, the smell of his musky cologne filling Jaehwan’s nose. “Then, why are you cornering me in a bathroom?”

“I know what you’re helping Han Sanghyuk steal, and I want you to get it for me instead.” Jaehwan blinked. “I don’t even know exactly what I’m helping him steal. And why would I work for you? He pays incredibly well,” the hacker replied, not letting his surprise show.

“Because, I’ll kill you if you don’t,” the man said, his tone conversational and face expressionless. “You _do_ know that this party is hosted by the chief of police, don’t you?” Jaehwan asked, cocking his head to the side. “You’ll be arrested before you leave the building.”

The man laughed, his voice was light and warm, and Jaehwan suddenly remembered where he knew the man from. “Wait, you’re Taek’s cousin, aren’t you? I’ve met you!” the hacker exclaimed, peering at the man’s face.

“Yes, Jung Jinyoung, it took you long enough. The police are not a problem for me. Now, hands up,” Jinyoung said coolly, pulling a gun from under his jacket and pressing it almost lazily against Jaehwan’s temple.

The hacker froze, eyes locking with Jinyoung’s as he heard the safety click off. He slowly raised his hands over his head, as Jinyoung continued, “Han Sanghyuk will not get that file, and I know he can’t take it without your help.”

\---

Sanghyuk _hated_ his mom, he really did.

He completely understood why Jaehwan had ducked out of the conversation, but he still wished the hacker would have stayed by his side. It would have made this encounter a hell of a lot easier.

“Why do you insist on being so disrespectful?” he asked, keeping his voice quiet but not trying to disguise his frustration. His mother scoffed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. “That boy does not deserve my respect.”

Sanghyuk gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t shout. He was in public, this wasn’t the time. “Why are you even here?” he asked.

“I was invited.”

“By who?”

“it’s not important.”

Why was she so insufferable!? “Can I go, then? I’m sure your date is wondering where you are,” the criminal replied coldly. His mother eyed him, her brow furrowed. Sanghyuk wondered if she needed her Botox re-upped, her face usually didn’t wrinkle at all.

“My date can wait. You never come visit me anymore, my darling, and we have the issue of your marriage to discuss.”

“I don’t visit you because that’s all you ever want to talk about. For the millionth time, I will get married when I choose,” Sanghyuk snapped. “But, darling, I have so many eligible women who would love nothing more than to meet you,” his mother replied. The criminal’s words, as always, bounced off her like he was talking to a wall.

Harin didn’t care about what he wanted, she never had. “I should just arrange something for you. I think Sowon would be a perfect match, I’ll set a date up so you can talk to her. You two can have lunch and get to know each other.”

“I don’t love her, I’ve never even met her! You have no authority over me anymore, mother, all you do is run around town spending my money,” the criminal replied, glaring at his mother for all he was worth. Harin bristled, narrowing her eyes as she asked, “How much money have you spent on your little security boy? An exorbitant amount, I’m sure. You’ve never had any self-control.”

Sanghyuk took a deep breath, trying to compose himself. The fact that she was right wasn’t helping him keep his temper in check. “I was already married to your father and had you by your age, my darling. It’s high time you choose a girl and start producing my grandchildren. If you get killed, who will- Yeonnie!”

His mother’s face brightened, switching from irritated to overjoyed remarkably quickly as she glanced over Sanghyuk’s shoulder. Mentally thanking whichever god was smiling upon him at this moment, the criminal turned back to see his second in command strolling over to them.

Hakyeon flashed his most winning smile as Harin hugged him, her tinkling laugh mixing prettily with the classical music playing in the background. His mother had always had a soft spot for Hakyeon. They were only 15 years apart in age, and she had helped raise him from the day he was born. Life as part of the family, growing up in the compound, was like that. Cozy.

“My sweet Yeonnie, I’m so glad you’re here!” she said, patting the second in command’s cheek affectionately. “Nobody here can dance worth a damn, just one song?” she asked, taking his arm to pull him away to the dance floor, all thoughts of scolding her son apparently forgotten.

Hakyeon stopped her, gently taking her hand and bowing his head. “I’d be honored, but unfortunately it will have to wait until the next party. I’m afraid I have to steal Sanghyuk away, you know how business is,” he said, giving Harin a knowing smile which his mother returned.

“Duty calls,” she replied, giving Hakyeon another hug and patting Sanghyuk’s arm. “Come visit me soon, we can have brunch,” she added, waiting for Hakyeon to nod before twirling away in a swish of red skirts and vanishing into the crowd. It always baffled Sanghyuk how someone could be so kind to others but cruel to her own child.

“Where’s Jaehwan?” Hakyeon asked, rounding on Sanghyuk as soon as Harin was gone. “He ran off after mother insulted him repeatedly, why?” the criminal asked, instantly on edge. His second in command wouldn’t have come here without a reason.

“Wonshik was contacted. They were threatening to hurt Jaehwan, I sent him to Seokjin to have the messages traced back to their source, but I haven’t heard anything yet.” Sanghyuk’s heart stopped. Jaehwan had told him this morning he was in danger, and in the aftermath of the watch and the sex, the criminal had totally forgotten! “Shit,” he hissed spinning in place to glare at tonight’s selection of body guards.

“You two, go watch the exit. Hakyeon, with me.” The guards nodded and hurried off to the doors, the second in command close on Sanghyuk’s heels as he cut a path through the crowd. Some piece of shit was threatening his hacker, and he would have absolutely none of it. The criminal’s mind was growing hazy with fear and anger.

“By the way, stop dating my mom. It’s incredibly weird, considering we… you know,” Sanghyuk snapped, as they walked purposefully out of the ballroom and down the corridor to the bathrooms. “I’m not dating her, you know that. She just has me come over so she can try and get dirt on you. One of us has to keep an eye on her, and we both know you won’t do it.” The criminal huffed out a breath, everyone was frustrating him this evening.

They reached the bathroom door and Sanghyuk yanked it open. “Don’t come any closer, or he dies,” Jung Jinyoung said, his arm around Jaehwan’s neck and a gun to the hacker’s head.

**Chapter 16: The Duplicity**   
**Summary:**

**“We are going to leave now, and you two are going to stay here and count to a thousand. If you follow us, he will die, got it?”**

_ The Duplicity: _

Sanghyuk stood completely still, his eyes tracking from Jinyoung to the gun to Jaehwan and then back again.

This was his fault, Jaehwan had told him that he was in danger, and he had forgotten about it, like the reckless idiot he was. They were too far away for him to make a move, Jinyoung would shoot before he made it two steps. Hakyeon was right behind the criminal, so that wouldn’t do any good either. He needed to stall, give himself more time to think.

“Who let you in here, Jinyoung?” he asked, keeping his hands firmly at his sides. He felt Hakyeon move against his back, but not enough to be visible. “This party is for the wealthy and influential, but you are neither of those things.”

Jinyoung didn’t answer, but he did smile. Meanly, but at least the criminal got a reaction. Jaehwan was breathing very fast, Sanghyuk could see his chest rising and falling, and his mouth was open like he was panting. Wonshik would probably kill Sanghyuk in his sleep if Jaehwan had another episode. Sanghyuk prayed his hacker was just scared, but he had seen that look before.

“Why are you threatening my associate?” the criminal asked, continuing his attempt to stall. The only problem was that he couldn’t think of a way to getting Jaehwan to safety without someone getting shot. Hakyeon moved again, but Jinyoung noticed this time.

“Stop whatever you’re doing back there and stand still,” he said, his eyes flicking over Sanghyuk’s shoulder momentarily before returning to focus on the criminal. Maybe Hakyeon had a plan. “You didn’t answer my question,” Sanghyuk replied, somehow managing to keep his voice calm.

“You know why, you won’t be able to take it. We are going to get it first,” Jinyoung said. He sounded very relaxed, but the arm he had around Jaehwan’s neck tightened almost imperceptibly.

The hacker was staring at Sanghyuk. Or, staring through him. He was doing that thing again, thinking so hard that it was like the criminal wasn’t there. Jaehwan was lost in his own brilliant mind. Sanghyuk locked his eyes on Jaehwan’s, trying to nonverbally bring the hacker back and reassure him that everything would be fine, even though there was absolutely no guarantee of that being true.

Jinyoung shifted, nudging Jaehwan’s temple with the barrel of the gun as he lowered his arm, now wrapping it around the hacker’s waist. Sanghyuk could clearly see Jinyoung’s fingers tapping out a rhythm against Jaehwan’s side.

Sanghyuk hissed under his breath, curling and uncurling his fists. He was itching for a gun, a knife, anything he could use to make Jinyoung let his hacker go. This was worse than Hongbin, _way_ worse. At least with Hongbin, Jaehwan had consented to being touched. But he was at gunpoint this time, and Sanghyuk wanted skin Jinyoung alive for putting his filthy hands on his beloved.

“We are going to leave now, and you two are going to stay here and count to a thousand. If you follow us, he _will_ die, got it?” Jinyoung asked, visibly squeezing Jaehwan’s waist. Sanghyuk was really and truly panicking now. He had no idea what to do, how to stop them from leaving.

Jaehwan seemed to return to himself, his eyes focusing as he glanced sideways at the row of sinks, and then downward at his feet. After a second, he looked back up at the criminal and winked.

“You don’t have to threaten me, I’ll go willingly,” Jaehwan said, using his most silky voice and pressing back against Jinyoung. The other man looked about as shocked as Sanghyuk felt. This wasn’t happening, was it?

“Seriously, point your toy somewhere else. They’re starting to bore me anyway, so as long as you can pay, I’ll get that stupid file for you.” Jaehwan must have noticed the disbelief that was no doubt plastered across the criminal’s face, because he rolled his eyes and then winked again, very exaggeratedly this time. His hacker must have an idea.

Whatever his idea was, he seemed to think the criminal wouldn’t like it, because he mouthed the word _‘sorry’_. His hands had been hanging limply at his sides, but he very slowly lifted them and placed one hand on Jinyoung’s arm.

It didn’t look like the other man had anticipated his target being so compliant. He was now staring blankly at the back of Jaehwan’s head, and Sanghyuk saw his finger move away from the trigger. “Let’s go then,” Jinyoung said, clearing his throat and blinking rapidly.

“In a minute, I wanna have a little fun first,” Jaehwan replied, slowly turning so their chests were flush and draping his arms over Jinyoung’s shoulders. The other man quickly glanced at Sanghyuk, a malicious smile spreading across his face as he tightened his hold on the hacker’s waist. “What, now?” he asked, earning a low chuckle from Jaehwan before the hacker answered, “You said you wouldn’t refuse if I offered. Let him watch.”

Sanghyuk did watch, completely baffled and incredibly angry, as his hacker tilted his head and leaned in to kiss the other man. Jinyoung was still holding his gun, but he let it drift a few inches from Jaehwan’s head. He didn’t seem upset about how his night was turning out and hurting Sanghyuk was probably making it even better.

Jaehwan was clearly putting on a show, wriggling and tangling his hands in Jinyoung’s hair, letting out high-pitched little moans. The criminal felt like someone had hit him over the head with a shovel. He didn’t like this one fucking bit.

He noticed Hakyeon move again, but the other two didn’t. Jaehwan had shifted them around, pressing Jinyoung up against the sink and mouthing his throat, running his hands down the other man’s chest. Jinyoung had lowered the gun now and was holding it at his side, but he still had it! How was this helping?!

Sanghyuk realized that this was probably his personal form of hell. Maybe he had in fact died, and now he would have to watch Jaehwan fuck other people for the rest of eternity. Wasn’t that a cheerful thought?

In a flash of movement too quick for the criminal to follow, Jaehwan took advantage of Jinyoung’s slackening grip and snatched the gun from his hand, taking a half-step back and aiming it directly between the other man’s eyes.

Jaehwan swiped the back of his free hand across his mouth, before turning his head to glare at Sanghyuk. “Do you love me?” he asked sharply, the ferocity of his gaze pinning the criminal where he stood.

Sanghyuk did. He did love Jaehwan, but this wasn’t even close to how he imagined telling his hacker how he felt. Too stunned to bother trying to lie, the criminal nodded.

“Okay,” Jaehwan said, not seeming either happy or angry at Sanghyuk’s response. Moving faster than the criminal thought he was capable of, Jaehwan tossed the gun a few inches up in the air, caught it so he was holding the barrel, and pistol-whipped Jinyoung, back-handed, the gun colliding with the side of the other man’s head.

Jinyoung collapsed to the floor, obviously out cold, as Jaehwan set the gun down on the counter. The _crack_ was still echoing off the bathroom walls as Jaehwan turned on one of the taps and bent down, swishing water around in his mouth before spitting it out.

“Does anyone have gum?” he asked, turning to face Sanghyuk and Hakyeon, arms folded across his chest. After getting no response, Jaehwan huffed out an angry little breath, nodding at the unconscious man on the floor as he asked, “What do we do with him now?”

A few more beats of stunned silence followed his question, but Hakyeon regained his composure first. “We’ll take him to the compound and question him. There’s no way he was working alone in this, so hopefully we can get some answers out of him,” he replied, nudging the small of Sanghyuk’s back before walking over to inspect Jinyoung.

“Why did you do that?” the criminal asked vacantly. He hadn’t taken his eyes off Jaehwan, not for a single second, and it felt like they were now permanently glued to his hacker’s face. He couldn’t look away if he wanted too.

“Uhh, he had a fucking gun to my head, and neither of you were doing anything! What was I supposed to do, let him shoot me?” Sanghyuk didn’t have a good answer to that question, so he rephrased his previous one.

“No, I mean- why did you do _that_ , specifically?” he asked, tracing his own mouth with one finger. Jaehwan’s expression was full of impatience as he replied, “Because, this isn’t the first time some dickhead has waved a gun at me, and that move has never failed to work. I’m not completely helpless, you know.”

“Oh,” Sanghyuk said, fondness for his hacker surging through him like fire, and he hastily added, “I know you aren’t helpless.” That fact was plain now. Jaehwan may be sick, but he certainly wasn’t weak. “ _Don’t_ forget it,” the hacker snapped, before turning to look down at Hakyeon and asking, “Do you have this under control?”

Hakyeon nodded, his phone already in hand as he dialed a number. “I’ll have the men I brought along help me get him out. I already texted them to watch the exits and follow if Jinyoung took you, so they’re around here somewhere. We’ll bring him the back way and I’ll meet you at the compound,” he said, putting the phone to his ear.

“Come on, jackass, take me home. And we’re stopping for chicken nuggets on the way because I haven’t had anything but wine and bruschetta all night and I’m fucking starving!” Jaehwan exclaimed, walking to the bathroom door and grabbing Sanghyuk’s hand to pull the criminal along.

“You’re something else,” Sanghyuk said, trailing behind his hacker and feeling a little dizzy after everything that just happened. “I know,” Jaehwan replied, releasing the criminal’s hand in favor of snaking his arm around Sanghyuk’s hips so they walked side by side.

\---

Wonshik was pacing around Seokjin’s ultra-modern living room, waiting for the coder to finish working on his phone. He was sitting on the couch, a laptop on the coffee table with the doctor’s phone plugged into it, typing and clicking faster than Wonshik could process.

His husband, who the doctor had never met before tonight, was leaning sleepily against the far wall with a mug of tea in his hand. Wonshik felt kind of bad for showing up at their house in the middle of the night, but working for the family was a 24/7 job and it probably wasn’t the first time.

“These were definitely sent from a computer, not a phone, I can tell you that much,” Seokjin said, clicking around his screen. “They have a very good VPN, and the messages originated on a private server, but I can’t pinpoint the location. It keeps bouncing around, right now it says its somewhere in Argentina, but it said it was in Germany like 10 seconds ago.”

“That sounds complicated,” Wonshik replied intelligently, not really knowing what else to say. He was so out of his depth with this technology stuff that he may as well be swimming in the middle of the ocean.

“It is. Whoever sent these wasn’t fucking around when they set up their security. If I didn’t know better, I’d say Jaehwanie did it. It’s the same kind of safeguards he has on his own stuff,” Seokjin said. His finger's stopped moving, looking up at the doctor, lines of worry suddenly creasing his flawless brow.

“The boss set up some kind of protection detail for him, right? Did Jaehwanie tell you all about Taekwoon’s warning?” the coder asked.

“What are you talking about? Why would Jae need a protection detail?” Wonshik replied, freezing on the spot. “Mother fu- use Joonie’s phone and call Hakyeon. Now. Tell him that Jaehwan is being targeted by the Jung family, as well as a shit ton of other people he doesn’t want to mess with,” Seokjin exclaimed, grabbing his own phone and presumably texting someone, his thumbs almost a blur as he typed.

Wonshik got very cold, goosebumps pricking up all over his arms. He didn’t know who Taekwoon was, but he was very aware of the Jung family. They were the second largest crime syndicate in the country, the Han’s being the first, and the two families had been at odds for the past 100 years. If Jaehwan was mixed up with both groups, this wouldn’t end well.

Seokjin’s husband was already holding his phone out for the doctor to use, now appearing more concerned that sleepy as he asked, “Why does Jae always get himself in the most trouble he possibly can?”

“Because he’s an adrenaline junkie with no fucking sense of self preservation. He likes the danger but doesn’t know it, which just makes it worse,” Seokjin snapped, returning his attention to his laptop. Wonshik dialed Hakyeon’s number from memory and put the phone on speaker. The second in command picked up on the first ring.

_“Hakyeon, Jae’s in serious trouble, the Jung- “_

_“I know, Wonshik, they tried to kidnap him.”_

_“Is he ok?!”_ the doctor exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

_“He’s fine, he got himself out of it. He and Hyoggie are going back to the mansion, and I’m following with Jinyoung. The guy who tried to take him.”_

Wonshik knew that name. He was one of the higher up’s in the Jung family, normally responsible for stealth and infiltration. The doctor had read his file, he’d read a lot of enemy files.

_“How did he get himself out? Why didn’t Sanghyuk save him?”_ the doctor asked.

Hakyeon chuckled under his breath, the sound more of disbelief than of humor. _“He made out with Jinyoung and then snatched his gun and hit him over the head with it. Right in front of us. It was pretty great, if I’m honest.”_

From over on the couch, Wonshik heard Seokjin mutter, “Typical.”

_“Why did Sanghyuk take him to that fucking party in the first place if he knew Jae was in danger? That was a really stupid decision!”_ Wonshik asked, frustrated, running a hand through his hair.

_“Apparently, he forgot.”_

_“That is NOT an acceptable answer!”_

_“I know it’s not, but- “_

_“Did he also forget who he is? That just being in the same room with someone puts them in danger, let alone sleeping with them?”_

Wonshik was so upset that he wanted to yank his hair out. He was glad Jaehwan was safe, but the hacker shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with! Half of Sanghyuk’s job was providing protection, how could he have been so irresponsible?!

_“Listen, Hyoggie is having a tough time with this whole “feelings” thing. We also ran into his mom tonight, so he’s extra unhappy. Just cut him some slack, ok?”_ Hakyeon replied, taking Sanghyuk’s side like he always did.

_“No! If you’re going to keep making excuses for him, then just go suck his dick and leave me alone. I don’t want to hear it,”_ Wonshik said sharply, not bothering to say goodbye before ending the call.

He handed Namjoon his phone and turned to glare at the back of Seokjin’s head. “Are you done? It’s probably safe to assume that the Jung family is responsible for the messages.”

“I think you’re right. When you get back to compound, ask Jaehwanie if he strengthened the Jung’s security network when he worked for them that one time,” Seokjin replied, disconnecting the doctor phone and tossing it over.

Wonshik nodded, muttering, “I need a fucking cig,” under his breath as he headed for the door. “You’re a doctor!” Seokjin exclaimed, but Wonshik hissed, “Shut up,” as he slipped his shoes back on.

“You can bum one off Joonie if you want, isn’t that right, Joonie?” Seokjin asked, and the doctor saw Namjoon nod. “Or you can’t wait and bum one off Jaehwanie.”

“Excuse me?” Wonshik asked, one foot still half out of its shoe. “He smokes when he’s stressed, did he not tell you? I’m sure what he just went through triggered that particular habit big time.”

“Seriously?! Why the fuck am I trying so hard to keep him alive when he’s clearly hell bent on dying?!” the doctor exclaimed, stomping his foot into his shoe and yanking the door open.

He could hear buzzing in his ears, frustration and disbelief warring for the forefront of his mind. He was so unbelievably disappointed with all of his friends. He was disappointed with Sanghyuk for letting Jaehwan fuck the maturity out of him. He was disappointed with Hakyeon for defending the criminal when he knew full well that Sanghyuk didn’t deserve it. But most of all, he was disappointed with Jaehwan, for firmly lodging himself so very deep in the doctor’s heart, and still choosing to live with such reckless abandon. Did the hacker not understand how much it would hurt when he was gone, or did he simply not care?

As he stepped out onto the darkened suburban street, Seokjin called, “I don’t know, but thank you anyway.”

—-

**Medical Kink:**

**Received at 12:39 am**

_‘Who is Taekwoon?’_

**You:**

**Sent at 12:40 am**

_‘Why do you ask?’_

_‘Just fucking tell me, Hongbin!’_

_‘Tell me why you want to know first.’_

_‘I want to know how he found out Jae was in trouble before we did. Who is he?’_

_‘Well…’_

_‘He’s an old friend of mine.’_

_‘He’s very in the know, I guess you could say.’_

_‘Don’t bullshit me, I’m really not in the fucking mood.’_

_‘I don’t think it’s safe for me to tell you, your boss doesn’t care for him._

_‘If Sanghyuk already knows then just tell me! I’m too furious to ask him right now, or have any kind of conversation, for that matter!’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘Because he almost let your ex get kidnapped by some really bad people, and somehow forgot that Jae was in danger in the first place!’_

_‘Who is he, Hongbin? Who is Taekwoon?’_

_‘Uhh’_

_‘You might actually know of him already, but by his nickname. He usually goes by Leo in more dangerous company.’_

_‘Jung Leo?!?!’_

_‘The guy who stole a bunch of shit from Sanghyuk?!’_

_‘Yeah, that one.’_

_‘And you’re saying he’s your friend? And he went against his family to warn Jae?’_

_‘Basically, yes. He’s actually an incredible nice person, but you must know how life is in a family.’_

_‘Yeah I do.’_

_‘What’s his number? I want to talk to him.’_

_‘Why?’_

_‘Because I do! Are you going to give it to me, or do I have to bug Seokjin to get it for me?!’_

_‘Fine, but wait 5 minutes to text him so I can give him a heads up, ok?’_

_‘Sure, whatever!’_

_‘Ok, it’s **********’_

_‘Thanks. Now go tell him.’_

_‘Fine, Dr. Kim! So impatient!’_

_‘Oh, and while I’m here, why the FUCK did nobody tell me that Jae smokes?! I’m his doctor! If anyone needed to know, it was me!’_

_‘Well, I was under the impression that he quit…’_

_‘Like, two years ago, actually. Because he knows I hate it.’_

_‘Great, so I guess you’re as out of the loop as I am.’_

_\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_

**You:**

**Sent at 12:51 am**

_‘Taekwoon? I’m Hongbin’s friend, he was supposed to tell you that I want to talk.’_

**Magical Thief:**

**Received at 12:51 am**

_‘The doctor, right? What can I do for you?’_

_‘Yeah, the doctor.’_

_‘Firs of all, holy crap I can’t believe you actually answered.’_

_‘Of course, I did. Hongbin asked me too.’_

_‘Ok, listen. I was wondering if you happened to know if one of your people texted me earlier tonight.’_

_‘And what if I did?’_

_‘I would ask you what they wanted me to help them with, and why they asked me out of everyone.’_

_‘Why do you think they would choose you?’_

_‘I have no fucking clue, to be honest.’_

_‘Do they realize that I have basically no influence what so ever? Like, I’m really just a doctor and the only thing I dictate is when people take medicine?’_

_‘I think they could have realized that your boss holds you in very high regard, and that he values your insight and opinion over most others.’_

_‘Aside from that, your connection to Lee Jaehwan may have been made known to someone in my family. That could be another reason why they may or may not have asked for your help.’_

_‘So, they were the ones who contacted me?’_

_‘Hard to say.’_

_‘I’m going to go with yes, considering we have one of your men in custody.’_

_‘I’m aware. Is that all, doctor?’_

_‘No, what did they want me to help with?’_

_‘I don’t know, and I probably wouldn’t tell you if I did.’_

_‘Come on, please? Hongbin trusts me, I think, and I really want to know!’_

_‘Hongbin does trust you. It would seem that I’m not the only one who goes against the wishes of my family every now and then.’_

_‘That doesn’t necessarily make me trust you, though.’_

_‘You know, when you broke into the mansion two years ago, I caught one of your people.’_

_‘Did you?’_

_‘Yeah, a tall guy, dark hair, scary thin. I had a gun on him and everything, but he tricked me and knocked me out. He stole my phone too. The whole thing was a bit ridiculous actually. I never got a good look at his face though. He had like, lace covering his eyes or something.’_

_‘Oh, him.’_

_‘Do you know who I’m talking about?’_

_‘Yes, but he’s no longer with us. Don’t worry about it too much.’_

_‘Sorry about your phone, though.’_

_‘See, there. I told you something and now you can tell me what your family wanted me to help with!’_

_‘You’re very funny.’_

_‘I know, my humor often goes unappreciated.’_

_‘So.....’_

_‘You’re also very persistent.’_

_‘I know that too. Please?!’_

_‘Fine, your boss will probably get it out of Jinyoung soon if he hasn’t already. And since I want to go to sleep and I can see you aren’t going to drop it, I’ll tell you.’_

**Chapter 17: The Pity**   
**Summary:**

**‘Burn the fucking bed.’**

  
**Notes: this and through chapter 20 all happen on the same day**

_ The Pity: _

The third day since the disastrous party had just begun, and Sanghyuk was hiding under his covers, trying to force his eyes shut.

It wasn’t working very well since Jaehwan was asleep next to him, also burrowed down under the blanket. He was mumbling something about ice skating, and the criminal thought he caught the phrase, “frozen lake of tea.” He could have misheard, but whatever he said, Jaehwan seemed very happy in his dream.

Since bringing Jinyoung back to the compound, they hadn’t been able to get any information out of him. Nothing at all. And Hakyeon was trying _really_ hard. It put Sanghyuk on edge, knowing that his enemies were planning something but not knowing exactly what. The criminal hasn’t seen much of Wonshik, the doctor always seemed to be busy and he had taken to eating his meals alone and at very odd hours. Sanghyuk missed his friend’s steadying presence.

Thanks to Jaehwan’s efforts, the criminals project was finally ready. The main show would start at 9 tonight, but the hacker’s program had been running since early yesterday. Jaehwan said it “needed time to flirt with the defense system.” Sanghyuk still didn’t fully understand what that meant or how it worked, but he was certainly happy that nothing had gone wrong yet. He needed that file _desperately_.

That good news aside, he was starting to get very worried about what the end of the project would mean for him. Jaehwan was under no obligation to stay at the mansion, no matter how badly Sanghyuk wanted him too. The hacker had asked to see the penthouse Sanghyuk mentioned, so the criminal was taking him there after breakfast. They were also stopping by Jaehwan’s hair salon so he could get his roots fixed.

It all felt so domestic to Sanghyuk. He wasn’t used it, the idea of waking up with someone, doing errands with them and going on late night fast food runs. It was surprisingly nice to act his age for a change. He didn’t want it to end.

Jaehwan hadn’t mentioned Sanghyuk’s confession once, and that was bothering the criminal most of all. He hadn’t said it back either. He wasn’t sure why Jaehwan had asked to begin with, but he thought the hacker would acknowledge it at the very least. Jaehwan wasn’t acting differently, it was like he just forgot.

Sanghyuk reached out to stroke Jaehwan’s cheek, smiling when his hacker nuzzled against his hand. He wanted to press kisses up and down Jaehwan’s slim body, take him out and show him off to the world, call him his beloved. He could do the first two, but not the last and that was what he wanted most. For Jaehwan to be well and truly _his_.

“What time is it?” Jaehwan mumbled, a very big yawn following his words. He stretched his hands over his head, so they stuck out from under the blanket, humming contentedly. “Late,” Sanghyuk replied softly. It was warm and dark inside their blanket cocoon, but he knew if he peaked out, he would see bright sunlight streaming in through the windows.

“Mm… breakfast,” Jaehwan said, smiling sleepily and cracking one eye open. Some of his thoughts must have shown on the criminal’s face, because Jaehwan opened the other eye, sitting up a little as he asked, “Are you alright, baby?”

“Yeah, totally fine,” Sanghyuk lied, trying to grin as convincingly as he could. “Good,” Jaehwan replied, rolling over and pouncing on the criminal, knocking the blanket onto the floor as he did so. They both blinked rapidly at the sudden brightness, Jaehwan sitting on Sanghyuk’s stomach and bouncing up and down.

“Soon our project will be finished, and I can drown myself in snacks and computer games!” his hacker was saying, tapping on the top of Sanghyuk’s head. The criminal grabbed his wrists and pulled Jaehwan down, so their chests were flush, cupping Jaehwan’s cheeks and kissing the tip of his adorable nose. “You’re so confident, I hope it actually works and you’re not all talk,” he replied, grinning for real at Jaehwan’s offended gasp.

“Of course, it will! I have to go check on my stuff and see how it’s going,” his hacker said loudly, quickly kissing the criminal before jumping out of bed. “Hey, hold on! Before you do, you have to go get your shot, remember?” the criminal called, pushing himself to his feet and stumbling a little as he followed Jaehwan into the bathroom.

The hacker was already brushing his teeth, trying to detangle his sleep-mussed hair with Sanghyuk’s comb at the same time. The criminal wrapped his arms around Jaehwan’s waist, back-hugging him and resting his chin on the hacker’s shoulder.

Jaehwan’s chest was bare, sunlight gleaming off his blonde hair, plaid pajama pants slung low on his slim hips. He looked like a porcelain figurine, Sanghyuk thought, beautiful and breakable.

“What are you staring at?” Jaehwan asked, bending over and spitting a mouthful of toothpaste into the sink. “You,” Sanghyuk replied as the hacker straightened back up. He wiped a bit of toothpaste off Jaehwan’s plump lip and dotted kisses on his cheek.

“Eww! Morning breath!” Jaehwan exclaimed, wiggling around so he could grab Sanghyuk’s toothbrush and hold it in front of the criminal’s face. “You kissed me like, less than a minute ago!” Sanghyuk said with a laugh, watching in amusement as the hacker waved his hand, dismissing Sanghyuk’s logic, and repeated, “Eww!”

——

“Ouch, Wonshikie! Jesus!” Jaehwan whined, as the doctor deposited him rather unceremoniously on the examination table.

The doctor was clearly in a _mood_ , his normally gentle and easy demeanor replaced with sharp hostility. Jaehwan had no clue why, he hadn’t seen the doctor in days! What could he have done to deserve the cold shoulder?!

“Be quiet, I need to focus,” Wonshik snapped, basically stomping over to get one of the neon blue syringes out of the fridge. “The fuck is your problem today?” Jaehwan exclaimed, taken aback at his normally sweet friends rudeness.

“Nothing. Now shut up,” the doctor replied, his deep voice sounding strangely sinister. The hacker stuck out his bottom lip, but where Wonshik would usually melt when Jaehwan pouted, today it had absolutely no effect.

Wonshik stomped back over, dropping his tray of supplies beside Jaehwan on the table, pulled a pair of gloves on with a _snap_ , and shoved the hacker’s legs apart. The alcohol was like ice against Jaehwan’s skin, and he winced a little, watching the doctor’s face in confusion. Wonshik didn’t seem to notice, standing between Jaehwan’s knees and discarding the swab in a little bowl on his tray before picking up the syringe.

“Stay still,” the doctor hissed, taking the hacker’s hip with his free hand and sharply pulling him closer. Jaehwan almost fell off the table at the abruptness of the motion. “Cut it out!” Jaehwan muttered, doing his best to steady himself, but the doctor paid no attention.

At this point, Wonshik would normally gently hold the back of the hacker’s head, his touch reassuring and expression comfortingly calm. Today, however, he knotted one gloved hand in Jaehwan’s hair and roughly yanked his head back, exposing the hacker’s neck and ignoring Jaehwan’s surprised yelp. Knowing what came next, the hacker squeezed his eyes shut and fumbled to grab the fabric of Wonshik’s shirt, suddenly struck with a very acute longing to hold someone’s hand. His first thought was of Hongbin. It was always of Hongbin, but that was no longer an option, and Sanghyuk did have incredibly big hands.

The instant the needle pierced his skin, a sob clawed its way out of Jaehwan’s throat. “I told you to stay still,” Wonshik snapped, stopping the hacker from pulling away by tightening his grip on Jaehwan’s hair.

Jaehwan’s mind had gone blank, completely overwhelmed with pain. He had never had any kind of tolerance for pain, despite being poked and prodded by doctors his entire life. He couldn’t stand it. The pressure under his skin was too much. This normally felt like just a little bee sting, but now it was like someone had stuck a knife through his throat. He couldn’t breathe. Hot tears escaped from the corners of his closed eyes as he whimpered, “Won-Wonshik, it hurts- please!”

“You’re such a fucking drama queen,” Wonshik said cruelly, pulling back and dropping the now empty syringe on his tray, pressing a square of gauze over the injection site. Jaehwan was still clinging to the doctor’s shirt, his neck aching painfully and his breathing uneven. He stared at Wonshik in disbelief. This couldn’t actually be that same doctor, could it? The doctor he liked, that he decided to trust? Who had never hurt him once, who took better care of him than anyone ever had before? That Wonshik wouldn’t, _couldn’t,_ treat him like this.

The doctor released Jaehwan’s hair and unwrapped a band-aid, sticking it where the gauze had been. He glared at Jaehwan as he said, “It’s going to bruise because you moved.” He shoved Jaehwan’s hands off him and lifted the hacker down from the table, dropping him on his feet and spinning away to clean up.

Jaehwan pressed a hand over his throat. His skin throbbed, and he couldn’t have stopped the tears silently spilling down his cheeks if he wanted too. “Why are you being so cruel? What did I do?” Jaehwan asked, sounding pitiful even to his own ears. “Get out,” was Wonshik’s only reply, not turning from the sink as he started washing his hands. 

Before the hacker could remember how to use his legs, the door to the medical ward opened. “My conference call went way quicker than I thought it would. Are you ready for breakfast, sweetheart?” Sanghyuk asked cheerfully, too absorbed with the phone in his hand to notice anything was amiss.

“He’s done,” Wonshik replied coldly, turning off the tap and depositing the used needle in the special biohazard container. Jaehwan couldn’t open his mouth, worried that he would start sobbing if he did. He was still staring uncomprehendingly at his friend, standing in the middle of the medical ward like a lost puppy.

“Oh good! Then let’s…”

Sanghyuk trailed off mid-sentence. A few beats of ringing silence later, he was at the hacker’s side, gently lowering Jaehwan’s hand and peering at his neck. The criminal blinked once, then twice. His eyes narrowed until they were almost slits, his mouth a hard line as he brushed away Jaehwan’s tears.

“Go on ahead to the dining room, sweetheart. Hakyeon is already there, and I have to discuss something with Wonshik. Privately.” His tone was soothing, deceptively calm, but Jaehwan didn’t think that he currently had the energy to try and keep the peace. The hacker nodded, immeasurably grateful for the kiss Sanghyuk pressed to his cheek, and he hurried out of the room.

As soon as the door shut behind him, shouting erupted from inside the medical ward. Jaehwan walked away as quickly as possible without running, but he could clearly make out Sanghyuk saying, “He’s already starting to bruise!” and Wonshik replying, “It’s not my fucking fault! He wouldn’t stop moving!”

He paused to wipe off his tears in one of the hall mirrors, nodding and fake-smiling at all the men he passed, before finally reaching the dining room.

“Good morning, nerd,” Hakyeon said, not looking up from his news paper as Jaehwan walked through the door. “Hey,” the hacker replied, his voice blessedly steady as he took a seat. He reached for the coffee pot, pouring himself a cup and chugging it, letting the burn of the hot liquid distract from the throbbing on the side of his neck.

His eyes were a little puffy from crying, but there was really nothing to be done about that, so Hakyeon asking if he was alright didn’t surprise Jaehwan. “Yeah, I’m fine. I moved so getting my shot hurt more than usual. That’s all.”

“Okay, well I actually wanted to talk to you about something, but I didn’t want Sanghyuk to be here when I did,” the second in command replied. Jaehwan poured himself another cup of coffee, waiting to hear what Hakyeon had to say.

“I have your old watch.”

The hacker hadn’t expected that. He had been anticipating some sort of jealousy fueled lecture, since Hakyeon and Sanghyuk were kind of a _thing_. That he could have handled. But not this.

“Why? Where did you even find it?” Jaehwan asked, hating the sympathetic look on Hakyeon’s face. The last thing he wanted right now was pity. “That day you borrowed the Porsche. I drove it to the garage, remember? I found it under the passenger seat, but I knew about Sanghyuk’s present, so I didn’t think it was the right time to give it back. Do you want it? It’s in my room.”

_‘We have all the time in the world.’_ Those words were etched as permanently on Jaehwan’s soul as they were on the back of his Rolex. The image of Hongbin, surrounded by fairy lights and sitting across the table from Jaehwan, sliding the watch's box over to the hacker during their third-anniversary dinner less than six months ago, flashed before Jaehwan’s mind’s eye.

“I don’t want it. Sell it or keep it, I don’t give a shit,” the hacker replied, forcing a bravado he absolutely did not feel and ignoring a painful twinge of heartbreak. He had been doing his best to suppress that particular emotion, drowning himself in work and Sanghyuk so the force of it wouldn’t crush him.

Hakyeon’s expression didn’t change as he watched Jaehwan sip his coffee. “I’m going to hold onto it for you. Life doesn’t always work out how you expect, and you might want it back. Things like that are irreplaceable, you know?” he said. Before Jaehwan could try and convince the second in command that he was wrong, Sanghyuk slunk into the dining room.

“Sorry about that,” the criminal said darkly, smoothing down Jaehwan’s hair as he walked past before collapsing at the head of the table. “It’s ok, and I’m fine so you really didn’t need to tell Wonshik off, it was my fault.”

“No, it wasn’t,” Sanghyuk replied, his tone bitter as he took the hacker’s mug free hand and idly began playing with his fingers. _‘You’re such a fucking drama queen.’_

“Well, it is what it is. I’m excited for our outing,” Jaehwan said, trying to muster up the happiness he felt upon waking this morning and thanking every god he knew that Hakyeon had dropped the subject of Hongbin.

_‘You, Lee Jaehwan, are the most perfect creature I have ever laid eyes on.’_ No, no, NO! He wouldn’t think of that now. Or ever, for that matter. Hongbin’s hands on him in the rose garden had been nothing more than an illusion. A plot to lure him home and ambush the hacker, nothing more.

_‘So unbelievably lovely, my angel.’_

“Shut up,” Jaehwan breathed, not realizing he had spoken allowed until he noticed the confused look on Sanghyuk’s face. Those words were directed at his own brain, but unable to voice his thoughts or explain, the hacker simply looked away and forced another sip of coffee, the searing heat fortifying him slightly.

“Uh… yeah. I’m looking forward to it too,” Sanghyuk said, tactfully choosing not to comment on the fact that Jaehwan was talking to himself. “Are you two going out today? What about the project?” Hakyeon asked.

This time when the hacker spoke, his voice was a bit scratchy. “It’s on autopilot until tonight, no reason to just sit around and wait when we could be out having fun.”

\---

Hongbin was losing himself. Each moment he spent alone in their sweltering penthouse took a tiny piece of him and tore it to shreds. At some point, he knew, there would be nothing left of him at all.

He was lying upside down on his side of their bed, he could no more sleep on Jaehwan’s side than walk through fire, staring at the ceiling and thinking of nothing. Pristine white emptiness. He had been like this for a while, awake since the small hours of the morning, loneliness threatening to smother him when he woke from a dream of Jaehwan.

Hongbin always dreamed of Jaehwan now, the gamer’s loud-mouthed angel refusing to relinquish his hold on Hongbin’s subconscious. Last nights had been a truly happy memory, one that Hongbin wished he was able to relive over and over again.

He and Jaehwan had been on one of their numerus vacations, this time in the Maldives. They were sitting on the small wooden pier just outside of their ‘floating hotel room’, as Jaehwan had called it. In truth, it was one of the luxurious private huts, standing on stilts in the midst of warm ocean water, that this particular resort had been famous for. The two of them were laughing and pointing out all the colorful fish swimming beneath them, when Jaehwan had decided he wanted to look at them more closely.

Without a single word of warning, his boyfriend had pushed himself off the edge of the pier, clothes and all, landing in the waist deep water with a loud splash and subsequently scaring off the fish. He hadn’t been fazed, dunking under the smoothly rolling waves and swimming after the poor creatures.

Hongbin had laughed so hard that he nearly toppled off the pier himself, watching Jaehwan back-stroke in circles around their hut, singing at the top of his lungs. When the gamer asked him what he was doing, Jaehwan had replied that he was ‘trying to lure the fish back with his siren song.’

A soft ding from the nightstand alerted Hongbin that someone was texting him, so he pulled himself out of the reverie and sat up. His muscles strained from lack of use as he reached for his phone, a clear reminder that he should at least _try_ to go the gym today. The message was from Jaehwan, and he fumbled to click it open as fast as he could.

**Jaehwanie New Number:**

_‘It’s Jaehwan. I’m out apartment hunting, and I’ll have a moving company come by to pick up my stuff within the week. If you have a free moment (which I know you do), please try and separate our things, I don’t want them accidentally taking something that’s yours.’_

**You:**

_‘Why would I help you move out? I don’t want you moving out.’_

_‘Don’t be a child, Hongbin.’_

_‘I’m not the one acting like a child! You’re the one having a temper tantrum and running away!’_

_‘Yes, you are. If you want me to furnish my new place with your treasured belongings, then fine. Don’t help.’_

_‘We bought all of this together, how am I supposed to go about separating it? All of it is ours.’_

_‘It’s only been a few weeks; did you forget everything we have together that quickly?’_

_‘No, I didn’t. But since I am not coming over there, and since this whole fucking mess is your fault to begin with, you need to figure out what you want to keep.’_

_‘Why won’t you come? You know I don’t care about material stuff, a couch is a couch to me, but I know you love all our furniture.’_

_‘See, you’re already making progress. The couch is mine. Just make a list and email it to me.’_

_‘Who gets our bed?’_

_‘Burn the fucking bed.’_

\---

“So, what do you think?” Sanghyuk asked, staring at the newly brunette Jaehwan standing across from him in the living room of the empty apartment.

They had gone to the salon first, and Jaehwan’s deep black hair was absolutely mesmerizing. It shined just the faintest hint of indigo, glossy and silky, the front falling across his eyes and the sides buzzed short. Sanghyuk loved his hacker both ways, but he kind of preferred this more natural Jaehwan.

The hacker had only looked around the penthouse for five minutes, and was now furiously texting an unknown individual, his face completely devoid of any emotion. “How much did you say rent was?” Jaehwan asked, not looking up from his phone.

“You can just have it, if you want, you don’t need to pay,” Sanghyuk replied, trying to peek at the hacker’s screen. Jaehwan stepped away before he could see anything, saying easily, “You know I don’t need your charity, and you’re being a shitty business man. How much?”

“700,000 won per month,” Sanghyuk replied, making up a price on the fly. He knew the number was way too low, and clearly so did Jaehwan because the hacker gave him an exasperated look, but the criminal wasn’t in the mood to check.

Jaehwan clicked around on his phone some more, Sanghyuk continuing to watch his beautiful hacker in awe. “Alright, I just transferred 6 months of rent, or however many months that’s actually worth at the real price, to your account. I don’t know why you decided to pay me for our project in American currency, but it took extra time to process so I just got it.”

“So... you’re moving in here?” Sanghyuk asked, slightly taken aback at the abruptness of Jaehwan’s decision. They had only looked at one place. He knew that the hacker wouldn’t move into the mansion, it was way too soon, he _knew_ that. The knowledge hadn’t stop him from hoping, though, and his heart sank.

“Yeah, it’s pretty and I need somewhere to keep my shit,” Jaehwan replied, pocketing his phone and peering at Sanghyuk’s face. “Why do you look so upset? Isn’t making money a good thing?”

Sanghyuk cleared his throat, turning away and walking into the large kitchen, inspecting the dark granite countertops. “It _is_ a good thing, I just... never mind. When are you having your stuff picked up from your old place?”

He didn’t hear a reply, but he did hear soft footsteps follow him. Jaehwan’s hand rested on his shoulder blade, warm and comforting. He was overcome with a sudden urge to pin his hacker against the counter and kiss him breathless, but he didn’t.

“Sometime this week, but seriously, ever since this morning you’ve looked like a kid who’s lost his dog. Tell me what’s wrong,” Jaehwan said softly, rubbing circles into the criminals back. “I just thought... or hoped... I don’t know,” Sanghyuk replied, keeping his eyes fixed on the counter and sliding his hands in his pockets.

This was another thing he wasn’t used too, someone having so much power over him, affecting him so strongly. Before, he never had trouble controlling his emotions, keeping his mouth shut. Never confessing to _anything_. So why did he want to pour his feelings out so fucking badly?! When had the tables turned on him?

“I love you,” he murmured, the words escaping before he realized what he was doing. Jaehwan’s hand stopped moving, the slight pressure of it feeling like a thousand-pound weight on Sanghyuk’s back. The criminal closed his eyes, praying Jaehwan would say it too. He didn’t believe in any god, he had seen too much to fall prey to that particular delusion, but he _prayed_ now.

“I know,” Jaehwan replied, his voice kind, soft, but the words still cut the criminal deeply, right down the middle. Sanghyuk swallowed hard, shutting his eyes and trying to breathe. “And you don’t love me back.”

“Sanghyuk,” the hacker said, pleading, like the criminal should understand. He _didn’t_. He didn’t understand how Jaehwan couldn’t feel this love. “Baby, it’s too soon for me. Too soon after… you know. I can’t fall into something like this so quickly, I can’t give you what you want yet and I’m sorry.”

_Hongbin_. Always Hongbin. Jaehwan didn’t even need to say the gamer’s name. Everything always came back to Hongbin. First, they couldn’t be together because Jaehwan was with Hongbin. Now, they couldn’t be together because the Hongbin had broken Jaehwan’s heart. Damaged him. Sanghyuk wouldn’t think about the gamer now. If he dwelled on it for too long, he would start breaking things.

Jaehwan’s hand resumed circling, like he was trying to be reassuring as he asked, “Is this too hard for you? Do you want to stop?”

Sanghyuk’s eyes flew open. Stop? How could he possibly fucking _stop?!_ Stopping would kill him, he was absolutely sure, and he wouldn’t let Jaehwan go without a fight.

“No!” he exclaimed, spinning in place and taking his hacker in his arms, cradling Jaehwan’s slim body against his chest. He couldn’t keep the words from spilling out of his mouth. “I will _not_ lose you, but I don’t get it! How can you not feel it too? Every time you touch me it’s like someone lit my insides on fire.”

Jaehwan sighed, sounding like he was explaining that ‘one plus one equals two’ to a very frustrated toddler as he said, “That’s just lust, baby, it isn’t love.”

“It’s _not_ just lust! I want you so badly I can’t keep my mind focused. When you aren’t with me, all I can think about is your face, seeing you again.” Jaehwan was giving the criminal a look that he didn’t like. As if he understood but felt bad for Sanghyuk. _Pity._

“I mean, obviously lust is a factor. Like, I want to fuck you against every single surface in this kitchen. But I also want to cuddle with you and go on fancy dates and watch movies in bed and laugh about nothing.” Sanghyuk knew he was babbling, but he had no idea how to make himself shut up.

“We do all of those things already, baby,” Jaehwan replied, clearly confused as he snaked his arms around the criminal’s neck. The movement seemed almost like a reflex. “But it’s not real!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, wishing his hacker would get it. It was like they were having two different conversations.

Jaehwan winced, turning his head and trying to pull away as he said quietly, “I think we should stop before you get hurt.”

Sanghyuk didn’t let go, drawing his hacker back to him as he replied desperately, “No. No, I _can’t_. I don’t care if it hurts, I _need_ you.”

He eyed the bruise beginning to form on Jaehwan’s neck under his band-aid, his anger at Wonshik only a vague flicker in the back of his mind, before leaning in and kissing Jaehwan on the mouth.

It was just like their first time, close-lipped and chaste. And like their first time, and every time after that, electricity shot through the criminal’s body. _Fucking fireworks_. How could Jaehwan not feel this heat between them?! He had felt it in the beginning, or at least, Sanghyuk thought he had! Jaehwan had told the criminal he felt sparks!

Or… no. Jaehwan asked Sanghyuk if _he_ had felt sparks. He had never said anything about how he felt, the criminal had just assumed. But what else would have prompted that question? Sanghyuk didn’t want to ask now, he didn’t want to hear his hacker say that there was nothing between them. It would hurt too fucking much. But he _had_ too. He had to know.

“Did you feel anything?” he asked, raising his head just slightly and looking down into Jaehwan’s eyes.

“I mean, yeah. There’s no denying that we’re physically very good together, I really like kissing you… and doing other stuff with you. Touching you makes me feel all tingly. And I genuinely like you as a person and enjoy your company, plus you’re gorgeous. But I don’t think that’s what you wanted to hear, was it?”

Jaehwan was right, that wasn’t what Sanghyuk wanted to hear. But it was better than nothing. He would take what he could get.

The criminal pressed his forehead against Jaehwan’s, letting the hacker pet his hair and stroke his cheeks, drinking in Jaehwan’s murmured apologies. This was the first time the hacker had comforted him, the criminal realized belatedly. He let it happen, reveling in the soothing and tender touches, closing his eyes as Jaehwan smoothed the lines of tension from his brow.

“Let’s go home,” Sanghyuk whispered, once he had mastered the urge to cry. He wouldn’t shed tears over this mess of a relationship, or whatever it was, again. And certainly not in front of Jaehwan. “Okay baby, we’ll go.”

Jaehwan held the criminal’s hand all the way back to the car, not letting go until Sanghyuk pulled slowly out of the garage and turned onto the road. The criminal drove much more calmly now than how he did normally, subdued. He just couldn’t tap into his reserves of slightly manic energy the way he usually did. He was driving to get from point A to point B, not to have fun.

They had only been going for a few minutes, when Jaehwan suddenly sat up straight. “Drop me at this corner on the right, I’ll meet you at the mansion,” he said, feeling around in the pockets of his black wool coat. “What? Why?” Sanghyuk asked, violently wrenched from his deepening state of melancholy.

“I want to pick up Bae.” Sanghyuk was confused. He had no clue which bae Jaehwan was referring too, the hacker had several. “Bae! My car, I named her Bae. My place is only a block away, and it’s one less thing to deal with when I move.”

Sanghyuk slammed on the breaks, pulling the Aston to a dead stop in the middle of the empty street so abruptly that Jaehwan had to grab the door handle to stop himself sliding off his seat. “No, not now. Why do you want to go there now? One of my men can pick up your car, don’t go right now, not while he’s there, don’t.” The criminal was babbling again. He used to be very good at forming properly structured sentences, but it appeared that his verbalization skills had left him.

“I’m not planning on going upstairs, I have my keys. I’m just going in the garage, relax baby,” Jaehwan replied calmly, brushing the criminal’s hair off his forehead.

“No. No, you take this and go to the compound, I’ll get your car and follow you,” Sanghyuk said, his voice sounding too loud to his own ears. After the conversation they just had, the criminal couldn’t let Jaehwan stroll right back to Hongbin. He couldn’t let them occupy the same space, even if they were separated by twenty stories of concrete.

The hacker was watching him, expression unreadable as he mulled Sanghyuk’s words over. After what felt like an eternity to the criminal, Jaehwan nodded. “If you crash my car, I’ll castrate you, no joke.”

**Chapter 18: The Confrontation Part 2:**   
**Summary:**

**'Sanghyuk lost it.'**

_ The Confrontation Part 2: _

Sanghyuk waited until Jaehwan drove away, the Aston’s engine revving loudly as it turned the corner, before he began walking down the block to the hacker’s apartment building. He would just get Jaehwan’s car and go. No messing around, no seeing the gamer, no lighting his own building on fire in the hopes that Hongbin would die, trapped up on the top floor.

Sanghyuk was very glad that Jaehwan had listened to him and gone back to the mansion, but he was just the tiniest bit concerned about the hacker driving by himself. He didn’t want Jaehwan to get in a car accident if he suddenly got sick. Maybe this is how the gamer felt, constantly worrying about Jaehwan’s episodes, wanting to keep an eye on the hacker at all times to make sure he didn’t die. Maybe protectiveness was a side effect of being in love with someone that was terminally ill. But, no. He and Hongbin weren’t similar, not even in that small way.

He made his way down the street, keeping his head bowed and his hands in his pockets, trying to be inconspicuous. Sanghyuk knew full well that he shouldn’t be out by himself. Hakyeon would scold him for not having a body guard or two, but he hadn’t wanted anyone else intruding on his and Jaehwan’s private time. There was no guarantee of how many moments like that they would have left.

The buildings security guard knew him of course, and the door to the lobby was opened for him without a moment’s hesitation. He hurried to the elevator and hit the button marked _‘garage’_ , tapping his foot impatiently as it began to move.

Sanghyuk wanted to curl in on himself, roll into a ball on the floor, just so Jaehwan would be sweet to him again. He had felt more loved in those few moments than he had any right too, considering he wasn’t loved at all. More than during any post-sex cuddle session, more than waking up with Jaehwan in his arms, more than the numerous kisses the hacker gave him throughout the day.

That was the kind of relationship he wanted, Sanghyuk thought as he exited the elevator, clicking the ‘ _unlock’_ button on Jaehwan’s keys. The kind where you could comfort and be comforted. Give and take. Balance.

Headlights flashed to his right, and he made his way to the navy blue Lexus. As he was about to open the driver’s door, he noticed something incredibly inconvenient. Through the window, he saw that a steel bar was attached to the steering wheel, one of those locks to stop people from stealing a car.

He looked at Jaehwan’s keys, trying to find one that would unlock it, but there wasn’t anything small enough. “Fuck,” he muttered, pulling out his phone and opening Jaehwan’s message thread.

**You:**

_‘Hey sweetheart, did you put a steering lock on your car?’_

**Beloved:**

_‘No, why would I have? That garage is secure as shit.’_

_‘Why do you ask?’_

_‘Ok, I was just checking. Also, don’t text and drive.’_

_‘You texted me first! And I’m at a stop light!’_

_‘Oh wait! I’m in your car! I can run all the red lights I want, and I won’t get pulled over! Woohoo!’_

_‘Jaehwan don’t do that! I want you to get home in one piece!’_

_‘Kidding lol. Take good care of Bae, I don’t want to see a single scratch on her.’_

_‘Bae is in good hands, don’t worry.’_

“Fuck,” Sanghyuk repeated, louder this time, leaning against the car and covering his eyes with one hand. Hongbin must have put the stupid bar there so Jaehwan would have no choice but to talk to him. At least the criminal was the one here, he could handle the gamer easily enough.

He pocketed both his phone and Jaehwan’s keys, taking a deep breath before walking back to the elevators. He was going to get the key for the lock and leave. That’s it, no more interacting than was absolutely necessary. He couldn’t decide if he was going to tell Jaehwan about this or not. On the one hand, Hongbin being a dick would most likely piss the hacker off. But on the other, hearing about the gamers unfailing possessiveness might rekindle Jaehwan’s feelings for him. It could be a reminder that Hongbin still loved him.

Sanghyuk really didn’t want to be speaking to the gamer at all, he thought, pressing the button marked _‘P’_ and straightening his hair in the elevators mirror-paneled wall. It wouldn’t do to look a mess, and he was glad that he had on his dark maroon suit today, rather than the sweatpants Jaehwan had tried to convince him to wear instead. The criminal figured that he looked presentable enough.

He exited the elevator, walking the few feet to the penthouse’s front door and knocking. He could have had the building manager unlock the door for him of course, but he wanted to get this over with as fast as possible and barging into the gamer’s apartment unannounced for the second time would probably piss Hongbin off.

Sanghyuk rolled his shoulders back, exhaling a steady breath. It took a surprisingly long time for the sound of footsteps inside the penthouse to become audible, he had started to worry that the gamer was out. But no such luck.

Hongbin opened the door, staring at the criminal as if in a daze. He looked like a complete wreck. Sanghyuk didn’t know when he had cut his gorgeous long hair, but now the short strands were sticking up every which way. The gamer had dark circles under his round eyes, his lips were chapped, and it looked like he had lost some weight. His ratty t-shirt was hanging off his broad frame a bit more loosely than the last time Sanghyuk had seen him. Despite all of that, Hongbin wasn’t any less handsome.

“What the fuck do you want?” Hongbin hissed, still holding the doorknob and bracing his other hand on the door frame. Sanghyuk cleared his throat, keeping his longing to punch the gamer in the face under control as he replied, “Jaehwan wants his car. I need you to unlock the steering thing so I can take it for him.”

“Jae doesn’t let anyone drive Bae but me,” the gamer said coldly, taking a step closer to the threshold and making no move to cooperate. “Well, I’m here and I’m going to bring him his car. So just give me the key and I’ll leave,” Sanghyuk replied, easily falling back into his standard intimidation routine.

Hongbin laughed. There was no humor in it and his eyes remained frosty as he asked, “Since when does the boss run errands for his employees? Shouldn’t you be busy cutting someone’s fingers off?”

“I was in the area,” Sanghyuk replied simply. He really _should_ be busy, maybe not cutting off fingers, but doing his job. The criminal had let his work take a back seat, Hakyeon doing almost everything he normally did, so Sanghyuk could spend time with Jaehwan. This arrangement wouldn’t last, but he was trying to milk it for as long as possible.

“I’m not giving you the key, so you can fuck off. If Jae wants Bae so badly, tell him to come see me himself.” Sanghyuk blinked, resisting the urge to shut his eyes. “Unfortunately, he’s too busy working right now to come see you, and frankly, I don’t think he wants to see you ever again. Give me the key or I’ll have the car towed to my compound and I’ll cut the bar off myself. If you think I’m above stealing a car, you’re very wrong.”

“Don’t lie,” Hongbin replied, slitting his already narrowed eyes at the criminal. “I know he’s out looking at apartments, he told me so. You’re clearly giving him quite a bit of free time.”

Deciding against asking the gamer when the _fuck_ he had talked to Jaehwan and why, the criminal said coolly, “He’s already chosen a place in one of my other buildings and paid six months of rent up front. You need to accept the fact that he’s never coming back to you.”

“Why are you trying so hard? Surely, you can date whoever you’d like with very little actual effort on your part. Why are you doing so much for him?” Hongbin asked, a cruel little smile twisting up the corners of his mouth.

“Give me the fucking key,” Sanghyuk replied, not taking the gamers bate. Hongbin’s smile widened to something near genuine amusement. “Oh _no_ ,” he said, a chuckle building in his throat. “You love him, don’t you?”

The criminal stared at him, feeling the hatred he had been trying to keep in check ignite in his chest.

“You _do_ , don’t you!” Hongbin’s deep laugh was echoing against the inside of Sanghyuk’s skull. “He doesn’t love you back, you know that, right? He could never love you, he’s still in love with me!”

“Give me the key,” Sanghyuk repeated, his voice so low that he almost couldn’t hear himself speak over the ringing in his ears.

“He said that he loved me. You know why he doesn’t want to see me right now? Because he’s still pissed, but he knows how easy it is for us to fall back into each other. Even after I told him what I did, he still said he loved me. He said it when _I made him come_.”

Sanghyuk’s mind went blank. Red-tinged static replaced his thoughts, like the fuzzy screen of a dead tv channel. “What?” he asked, voice nearly a whisper now as he felt himself go completely still.

“We had some fun in your rose garden last week, I’m not surprised he kept it from you. I did my best not to mark him so you wouldn’t find out and make his life more of a living hell than it already is. God, this is fucking hysterical!” Hongbin’s giddy voice was like nails scratching a chalkboard to the criminal. His hands curled into fists of their own accord, his self-control was failing. 

“Shut up,” Sanghyuk hissed, taking a step forward so he could more comfortably look down on the gamer. Hongbin was just a bit taller than Jaehwan, but the criminal still had a few inches of height on him. The gamer was touching so many nerves he may as well have been playing piano on Sanghyuk’s nervous system.

Hongbin was laughing for real now, clutching his stomach as he braced the side of his forearm against the door frame. Sanghyuk gritted his teeth. The gamer had gotten into the fucking compound. Someone must have let him in. The family had a _traitor_.

“Give me the key, last chance.”

“Yeah, you take it. Bring him his car. Bring him 30 fucking cars, it won’t do you any good,” Hongbin replied through his laughter. He stepped away from the door, walking over to a hook on the wall and grabbing a ring of keys off it.

“You’ll never have him the way I do, you _can’t win_. You and Jae haven’t spent more than three years building a life together. We can understand each other so well that it’s practically mind reading. I bet you don’t even know what his favorite color is, do you? I bet you’ve never even heard him sing.” His tone was mean, taunting. The criminal was so close to snapping he was surprised the tension in his body hadn’t shattered his spine.

“You poor, deluded kid. You think you know him, don’t you? _You don’t._ You don’t know how to deal with him when he gets sick, you just hand him off to your little doctor buddy and let him do the work. You don’t know how to look at him in the way that makes him start begging for you on the spot. How to get him so turned on that he cries, grinding on you and whimpering, without you having to move a muscle. You don’t know his body and you _certainly_ don’t know his mind.”

“You think I don’t understand what he’s doing? You’re nothing but a _distraction_. He’s using you to try and get the feelings fucked out of him, that’s his favorite coping mechanism. I should know, he asked me to do it the night you two met for the first time. He was so unbelievably scared of you. He didn’t want to take your offer, but you forced his hand and that terrified him. He asked me to _fuck him until he forgot what you did_.”

Hongbin was slowly flipping through the keys on his key ring, like he wanted more time to break Sanghyuk’s heart. To savor it. “He might like you, and he might fuck you, but he will _never, ever love you_.”

Sanghyuk lost it.

He snarled wordlessly, his vision going crimson as he pushed Hongbin as hard as he could. The gamer landed on the floor with a _thud_ , but Sanghyuk barely heard it. He was on the gamer a split second later, his fist connecting with Hongbin’s cheekbone, his jaw, the side of his face.

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Sanghyuk hissed, even though the gamer was no longer speaking. He wished he had his gun, wished he hadn’t given in to Jaehwan’s request to leave it at the mansion this morning. He wanted to shoot Hongbin _over_ and _over_ and _over_ again. But brute force was just as satisfying, watching blood well up in the gamers mouth, red tinting his face like paint on a canvas. 

This stupid fucker had forgotten who _exactly_ it was he was taunting. That there were consequences for his words. That Sanghyuk could break each and every bone in Hongbin’s body if he was so inclined. Sanghyuk hated him more than he had ever hated anyone in his life.

He couldn’t hit Hongbin hard enough. There seemed to be no end to his rage-fueled strength, but it wasn’t _enough_. His hand ached, probably very bruised, but it was worth it. And not as bruised as the gamer’s face. He wasn’t as handsome now, with his split lip and rapidly blackening eye.

Hongbin laughed, choking on his own blood and grinning manically up at the criminal. How could he be laughing when Sanghyuk was beating the shit out of him?! Scarlet colored his straight teeth, his eyes fluttering shut like he was enjoying the pain. His dimples appeared, a cut from Sanghyuk’s ring cleaving one of them in half.

“You lose,” the gamer mumbled, his words barely audible despite the fact that Sanghyuk was sitting on top of him.

How was Sanghyuk the loser in this situation?! Was he the one beaten to a fucking pulp?! No! He didn’t actually care what Hongbin meant in that moment, all he wanted, all he _needed_ , was for the gamer to stop talking.

With that, he fisted Hongbin’s hair and hit him so hard that the gamer lost consciousness.

Sanghyuk was breathing heavily, and it took him a minute to regain enough of his composure that he could stand up. The entry hall of the penthouse had fallen blissfully silent. No more poisonous words hitting him like bullets to the chest. No more taunting. No more of Hongbin’s stupidly deep chuckle. Silence.

This wasn’t the first time the criminal had gotten in a physical altercation, not by a long shot, but it was definitely one of the most satisfying times. He stepped around Hongbin, picking the gamer’s keys up off the floor and unlatching the only small one from the ring. That was the reason he had come, after all, and he was _not_ leaving here without Jaehwan’s car.

He stood still for a moment, collecting himself and taking stock of what had just happened. Hongbin was a dick, he unsurprising believed the same to be true of Sanghyuk, and there was a traitor somewhere in his organization. Those were the only parts of the conversation he was willing to acknowledge right now.

Sanghyuk took several deep breaths, once again grateful that he had worn red today. The color of his suit was good camouflage for the blood staining his sleeves. He looked down at his hands, noting the dark purple shading on his knuckles as collateral damage, his brain still trying to reason out the gamer’s final words. _‘You lose.’_

Suddenly, _violently,_ understanding hit him. Hongbin had been trying to provoke Sanghyuk on purpose. Their previous meeting, the one where Jaehwan had intervened, flashed in the criminal’s mind. _‘You also told me that you save people. That you’re a good person. Prove it to me.’_

Hongbin had done the same thing then, teasing the criminal and nothing else. Mocking Sanghyuk with his very presence, standing tantalizingly close, letting the criminal’s violent streak get the better of him. Only then, he had used their audience to his advantage. Now, he didn’t have an audience. Jaehwan hadn’t been here to stop Sanghyuk and there was no metal gate separating them. The criminal didn’t have a gun, but Hongbin couldn’t have known that.

The way Jaehwan had begged before, how he needed to be pulled off Sanghyuk, carried away as he screamed for the criminal not to hurt Hongbin. Wonshik’s words back in the medical ward after his hacker had fallen unconscious. _‘Jaehwan’s body cannot handle that much stress!’_

His hacker didn’t like this kind of violence. He told Sanghyuk repeatedly that he needed to try harder to find peaceful solutions to his problems instead of using force, when he could. Sure, Jaehwan may have broken that guard’s nose, but that was all he had done. He needed to get outside, and the guard had been in his way. He hadn’t lost it and tried to beat the guard into the ground, it had been more for shock value than a desire to actually hurt another person.

They might not have an audience right now, but questions would be asked about his hands when he got home. This wasn’t the kind of thing Sanghyuk could just play off. Hongbin was breathing, but if he was seriously injured and not just bruised up, Jaehwan would never forgive the criminal. He had said so himself. Sanghyuk had shown his true colors, or, he had shown what Hongbin _believed_ to be his true colors.

“Shit,” Sanghyuk muttered, wiping his bloody hands on the front of his suit jacket as he scanned the gamer’s pockets, looking for his phone. He must not have had it on him when he answered the door.

He made his way deeper into the penthouse, first checking the game room, then the room he recalled Jaehwan calling his office, and finally, the bedroom. This room held the most memories for the criminal, as he had spent the majority of his brief time here.

Back then, god it felt like years ago, but in truth had been only weeks, when Sanghyuk had still been himself, Jaehwan had been so affected by him. His hacker had whimpered at mere closeness, and then fainted at a simple brush of lips on skin. Jaehwan would be furious at the criminal for this when he found out. It was a matter of when, not if. Sanghyuk was trying to be realistic, there would be consequences for his rash actions today, just like how there had been consequences for Hongbin’s, and the criminal would face them head-on.

He saw the gamer’s phone on the foot of the bed, unlocked, a standard mp3 file open on the screen. Sanghyuk picked it up. The file wasn’t labeled, and the bar at the bottom showed it had been paused halfway through. Just out of curiosity, he slid it back to the beginning, and pressed play. There were a few beats of static, and then…

_“Did you feel… sparks?”_

_“Yes.”_

_“Do it again.”_

_“What about now?”_

_“Fucking fireworks.”_

That was his own voice, his and Jaehwan’s. Their second kiss. Sanghyuk had nearly forgotten that Hongbin had heard it, that he had bugged Jaehwan’s computer. The moment captured on this recording had been one of the happiest of his entire life, and probably one of the most heartbreaking for the gamer. Not that Sanghyuk particularly cared about that, Hongbin deserved it. But to think that by losing his temper just now, he could effectively have thrown it all away, lost Jaehwan as quickly as he had lost control. It was intolerable to Sanghyuk. He had to do something to at least try to mend things, even if it ended up being inconsequential, he had to try.

Hastily sending the recording to himself and then deleting the message from Hongbin’s phone, Sanghyuk carried it back into the hall and dialed the emergency services number. The gamer was still breathing, and the criminal took a pillow from the couch and slid it under Hongbin’s head, ignoring how much he wanted to smother the gamer with it instead.

He turned the gamer’s head to the side so he wouldn’t choke on his own vomit or blood when he came too, just as the operator asked what his emergency was.

“A man got in a fight and he’s pretty badly hurt, send an ambulance as fast as you can,” Sanghyuk said, giving the building’s address before setting the phone next to the gamer’s head. He didn’t say anything else, but he didn’t hang up, making sure he had his own phone and Jaehwan’s keys before hurrying out of the penthouse. It’s not like he would get in trouble with the law, he was Han Sanghyuk, but it would still be better if he wasn’t hanging around when the ambulance got here.

The criminal made it all the way to the car without panicking, which he was proud of. He unlocked the door and then got rid of that stupid steering wheel lock, sliding into the driver’s seat and slotting the key in the ignition. This was an absolutely breathtaking piece of machinery, there was no denying that, and Sanghyuk’s inner car-nerd freaked out for a few seconds as the engine purred to life.

He pulled out his phone, opening Hakyeon’s chat thread and sending a single message.

**You:**

_‘Get Wonshik and go to my office. Wait there for me and don’t tell Jae what you’re doing if he asks.’_

**Thugyeon:**

_‘Got it.’_

**Chapter 19: The Recollection**   
**Summary:**

**'He had seen Jaehwan plenty of times since Sanghyuk hired the hacker, but Wonshik was thinking of a time before that.'**

_ The Recollection: _

Wonshik was sitting in one of the chairs in front of Sanghyuk’s desk, watching Hakyeon pace around the room like a restless cat.

“He texted me like forty minutes ago, where the hell is he?” Hakyeon asked, turning to glare at the doctor as he rounded the far corner of the office. “No idea, but Jae’s working on their project as far as I know, so that’s one order we don’t have to worry about.”

The boss calling a private meeting like this, and with no warning at all, was never a good sign. Wonshik was doing his best to put his frustration with Sanghyuk and Jaehwan to the side for now, the family always came first. Taekwoon had been right when he said that the criminal valued Wonshik’s opinion. Sanghyuk would often ask him for advice or want to talk things out with him, things he wasn’t comfortable discussing with Hakyeon. The second in command had been born into this life, but Wonshik hadn’t, and Sanghyuk liked having an outsider’s perspective on things.

“I wonder what could be so secret that Jaehwan isn’t allowed to know about it,” Hakyeon murmured, as he walked past the windows. The doctor wondered about that too. It seemed like Sanghyuk told the hacker everything, including things he had no business knowing. Wonshik was just _waiting_ for the marriage proposal.

The door to the office flew open with a _bang_ , making the doctor flinch, and Sanghyuk stomped inside. The criminal looked absolutely furious, he was breathing heavily, and his suit had been stained with something that looked alarmingly like blood.

“What happened to you?” Hakyeon exclaimed, as Sanghyuk slammed the door and rounded on the two of them. “We have a fucking _traitor!”_

The criminal’s words sounded more like a growl than actual human speech, and the doctor froze in place. He wasn’t under suspicion, not yet at least. Sanghyuk would never suspect him of being a traitor, and he certainly wouldn’t be telling the doctor about this if he did.

“What!? How do you know?” Hakyeon asked, following Sanghyuk to his desk. The criminal sat, really it was more like he fell onto his chair, hissing, “Hongbin told me.”

That was when Wonshik finally noticed Sanghyuk’s bruised hands. “What did you do? Did you get in a fight?” the doctor asked, gingerly taking one of the criminals’ hands and inspecting his purple knuckles. The skin had split on a few of them, but at least it didn’t look like Sanghyuk was injured anywhere else.

“I was _provoked_ ,” Sanghyuk replied. “Tell us everything, start to finish,” Hakyeon said, perching on the corner of the criminal’s desk. “I will tell you the crucial details, and that’s it. I took Jae to his salon, he is now a brunette and looks fucking fantastic. Hongbin put a stupid lock on the car, and when I went to get the key, he and I had… an altercation, he told me that he had gotten into the compound, plus a bunch of other bullshit. I hit him and then called him an ambulance, so Jae doesn’t kill me. That’s it.”

Wonshik’s shock and disbelief was mirrored on Hakyeon’s face. “You called him an ambulance?” the doctor asked. Sanghyuk had never done something like that before! If he was going to hit someone, then he hit them and walked away with no remorse what so ever. End of story. And Wonshik knew that if there was one person his friend wanted it hit right now, it was Hongbin. Why the sudden kindness towards a man the criminal thought of as his enemy?

“Yes, and it nearly _killed me_ to do it. But you saw how Jae acted when I almost shot Hongbin, and I never even touched him that time. I lost my cool and I had to do something to try and remedy it,” Sanghyuk replied in a rush. The criminal was clearly still agitated, Wonshik wondered what Hongbin had said to earn a beating. ‘Hello’ would probably have been enough.

Hoping to keep Sanghyuk’s mind off the traitor, Wonshik asked, “And Jaehwan getting his hair done was a crucial detail of your story?”

The doctor hadn’t seen the hacker since the procedure this morning. Wonshik had had a little temper tantrum, he would freely admit that if confronted about it again. Seeing Jaehwan after what Taekwoon had told him had been so hard. He had been purposefully avoiding the hacker for days, trying to come to a decision that may very well change the course of his life, and having Jaehwan there acting all fluffy hadn’t helped _at all_.

“Yes, it was a crucial detail, because I had to tell someone else about it and I’ve complimented him enough. He looks even more beautiful now, if you can fucking believe it,” Sanghyuk snapped, messing with the papers on his desk in a clear attempt to stop himself from breaking something. “I _can’t_ believe it, actually,” Wonshik replied.

Hakyeon had gone silent, and the doctor could see the wheels turning in his head. “You need to help me find out who the traitor is, Hyung, I’m too overwhelmed with the project to do it myself right now,” the criminal said, looking up at Hakyeon as if who he was addressing wasn’t already obvious. Hakyeon was the only person that Sanghyuk ever called _Hyung_.

“What you’re too overwhelmed with is Jaehwan,” Hakyeon replied sharply, turning his steely gaze on the criminal before continuing, “I can’t keep doing your job for you, Sanghyuk. I’ll help you, of course, I’ll always help you, but I will not keep running around and doing things in your name while you’re off playing house. It’s not fair to the family. Unless you want to retire at age 22, essentially throwing your career away for a boy you haven’t even known a month, and hand everything over to me for real.”

Wonshik braced himself for the shouting that would undoubtedly be coming. Sanghyuk didn’t take being talked down too very well, especially not when someone was questioning his authority. What he hadn’t expected was all of the criminal’s fight draining out of him in an instant, folding his arms on the desk and resting his head on them.

“He’s leaving, so you won’t have to help me for much longer,” Sanghyuk murmured, his voice betraying none of the hurt that his body language indicated he was feeling. “He took the apartment, paid a ton of rent up front, and he’ll be moving in within the week.”

That set Wonshik on edge. Taekwoon’s plan. The clock was ticking now, he only had a week to make his choice.

As if on cue, there was a knock at the office door. “Not now!” Sanghyuk shouted, forgetting that his office was soundproof and whoever was outside couldn’t hear him.

The door opened, and Wonshik was hit with a sudden wave of déjà vu. Jaehwan stood there, his round computer glasses perched on the bridge of his adorably big nose. He had changed into a pair of jeans so tight it looked like they had been painted onto his skinny legs, a long-sleeved t-shit that was clearly at least two sizes too big hung off his lanky frame, only emphasizing how small he was. His black hair gleamed in the dim light of the office, the cut highlighting his cheekbones, the sharpness of his jaw and chin. Wonshik had seen him before.

He had seen Jaehwan plenty of times since Sanghyuk hired the hacker, but Wonshik was thinking of a time before that. Just over two years ago, in fact. Tall and lanky, dark hair swept across his forehead, an outfit almost identical to this. All he was missing was a strip of black lace tied over his eyes.

How had he not recognized the hacker until now?! Jaehwan didn’t look that different with dark hair, and the doctor had seen him in oversized clothes. Maybe it was the casualness, how Jaehwan looked so young and so normal now, lacking all traces of branding or labels, aside from the fancy watch Sanghyuk had given him. He looked like a student Wonshik might have known in his first year of college.

“Did you get Bae?” Jaehwan asked, his sweet voice as cheerful as it ever was. “His car,” Sanghyuk explained to the room at large, before looking back at the hacker and replying, “Yes, I got Bae. She’s in the garage, safe and sound.” Wonshik heard the exchange, but he was too lost in memory to process the meaning of their words.

He was pointing a gun at, Wonshik realized, the 20-year-old version of Jaehwan. He detested guns, didn’t even like to touch them, but Sanghyuk had made sure he had one in case of emergencies. That is what it had been, an _emergency_.

The doctor had been up late, working on a case study for one of the men, when the power had suddenly gone out. Sanghyuk and Hakyeon had been out on a job, and when Wonshik peaked his head out of the medical ward to ask a guard what was going on, he had found two of them unconscious on the floor. Letting his years of training take the wheel while his inner coward panicked, Wonshik had ran and grabbed his gun from the bottom drawer of his desk before hurrying back into the hall to try and help the injured men.

He had nearly jumped out of his skin when he reopened the medical ward’s door, a blur of nose and black fabric running past him. “Hey, stop!” he had shouted, pointing the gun at the person’s, _Jaehwan’s_ , back. His hand shook, aim unsteady, as Jaehwan froze a few steps away. The young hacker had turned to face him slowly, raising his arms above his head in a gesture of surrender.

Even then, Wonshik had been struck by Jaehwan’s appearance. He was rail-thin, even more than he was now, his long limbs like drinking straws and wavy dark hair stark against his pale skin. The doctor had guessed he was probably some kind of addict, but he realized now that Jaehwan must have still been in the grips of his illness when it was at its worst.

“What’s your name, handsome?” Jaehwan had asked, his voice a bit higher pitched than it was now, but somehow husky and sweet at the same time. “How did you get in here? What did you do to them?” Wonshik had almost shouted, his fear getting the better of him as he tried to keep the gun pointed straight.

“Who?” the younger Jaehwan replied, before glancing at the unconscious guards a few feet away and saying, “Oh, them? I didn’t do anything to them, my friends did. They’ll be fine though, so don’t worry.”

Wonshik was staring at the strip of lace tied around Jaehwan’s eyes, trying for something that resembled eye contact. “Come here, slowly, and keep your hands up,” the doctor replied, trying to sound like he wasn’t about to lose his cool. Jaehwan did, lacing his fingers together on top of the crown of his head, walking over to Wonshik in a way that seemed more slinky than scared.

“I asked what your name was, handsome. I need to know how to address my brave captor,” the young Jaehwan had hummed, standing right in front of the doctor, uncomfortably close. “Ravi,” he had blurted, like the idiot he was, giving the nickname his medical school friends had called him. He always lost his head when talking to pretty people, and his anxiety only served to loosen his tongue.

“Ravi… like ravishing? If so, it’s a very apt name,” the hacker replied, tilting his head to the side in a gesture that was now utterly familiar to Wonshik. He liked to think of it as Jaehwan’s ‘puppy waiting for a treat’ look. But back then, the quick movement had made him flinch, before pressing the barrel of his awful gun against Jaehwan’s chest.

“So, Ravi… what are you going to do with me now that you’ve got me?” Wonshik’s brain had stopped working. People caught in the act of breaking and entering shouldn’t behave that way! The young Jaehwan hadn’t been scared, on the contrary, near manic energy was rolling off him in waves.

“I’m not going to do anything but make sure you don’t run away. My boss can deal with you when he gets back,” the doctor said, his hand shaking more by the second. The hacker had chuckled, deep and throaty, and the sound had instantly sent whatever blood was left in Wonshik’s head down to other places. “But, you’re the one who caught me, Ravi. I’m _yours_ now. I won’t run, I _promise_.”

The young Jaehwan had purred the words, not spoken them. The doctor’s brain had short circuited when the hacker slowly lowered his hands, gently nudging the gun to the side and rested them on Wonshik’s shoulders. All he could remember thinking was how badly he wanted to see what Jaehwan’s eyes looked like under the lace.

“Why- what are you doing?” Wonshik had stuttered, forgetting about the gun in his hand as Jaehwan leaned closer to him. The young hacker’s lips had only been an inch away from his, his palms sliding down the doctor’s torso. Wonshik had been very aware of how warm he was, most likely blushing like a schoolgirl.

He had felt Jaehwan’s breath as the young hacker whispered, “Sorry, Ravi. It was nice talking to you.” Then, all he could remember was the gun being wrenched from his hand and a loud crack, and then lying on the carpeted floor in a daze. Before he blacked out, he felt a hand rummaging in his pocket, and then he saw that Jaehwan had kept his promise. The young hacker hadn’t _run_ away, he had sauntered off down the hallway, calm as you please.

“You gained like fifteen pounds!” the doctor exclaimed, surfacing from the memory and looking at the present day Jaehwan in disbelief. “Excuse me?! Did you just call me fat?” the hacker replied, narrowing his chocolate brown eyes at the doctor, his voice going up an octave, so it was nearly exactly how he sounded back then.

“Watch it,” Sanghyuk snapped, his tone dangerous, but the doctor wasn’t paying his boss any attention. “No, I’m not calling you fat, but you looked a hell of a lot thinner when you were twenty! I thought you were a junkie or something!”

Wonshik was on his feet, although he had no memory of standing up, and he walked right across the office to stand in front of the hacker. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Jaehwan asked, bewildered, as Wonshik bent down a little to peer at his face. The nose was the same, those god damn perfect lips were the same. The doctor reached out and held his hand sideways over Jaehwan’s glasses. The hackers’ features, while still sharp and even a bit gaunt, were softer than how they used to be.

Jaehwan slapped the doctor’s hand away and took a step back. Wonshik wasn’t all that surprised the hacker hadn’t recognized him. At 23, he had bright silver hair and almost none of his tattoos yet. His ears had only been pierced in one place, not three, and the doctor was fairly sure he had grown about an inch since then.

“It’s him! The kid that knocked me out two years ago during the break in!” Wonshik exclaimed, looking over his shoulder at Sanghyuk and Hakyeon who were both now also on their feet. He turned back to Jaehwan and explained, “I told you my name was Ravi. I caught you when Jung Leo broke in here, and you knocked me out with my own gun. Do you remember?”

The hacker was very still, shock mingling with confusion as he looked Wonshik up and down. “How the fuck are you just recognizing him now?!” Hakyeon asked loudly, but the doctor ignored him. “But…” Jaehwan said, unconsciously touching his own hair as he gawked. “Yeah, it was silver, remember? You looked different too,” Wonshik replied, feeling weirdly giddy all of a sudden. He had been thinking about that kid for two years, and he had _finally_ found him.

Jaehwan’s programming seemed to have glitched. He wasn’t moving, he wasn’t even blinking. “I owe you a phone,” he said, after staring blankly for a few moments more. “Yeah, you do! And about 10,000 pictures of my dog,” Wonshik replied with a laugh. This whole thing was surreal.

Speaking of phones, the doctor’s pocket was vibrating. With great effort, he tore his eyes away from the hacker and pulled it out, hitting the _accept call_ button and holding it to his ear.

_“What is it, Seokjin?”_

_“Are you with Jaehwan?”_

_“Yeah, why?”_

_“Give him the phone right fucking now or put me on speaker! I don’t give a shit which, just make it so he can hear me!”_

Knowing that Jaehwan would probably refuse to speak to Seokjin if he just handed over the phone, and noting the anxiety in the coder’s voice, Wonshik put the call on speaker.

_“He can hear you,”_ the doctor said, but the words were barely out of his mouth before Seokjin started shouting.

_“Lee fucking Jaehwan, I could kill you right now! Why the hell haven’t you been picking up your phone?!”_

_“What?”_ the hacker asked, looking no less stunned than he had been by Wonshik’s revelation about their shared past.

_“I’ve called you at least a million times, you dick! I’m at the hospital! They have been trying to reach you! You’re his emergency contact!”_

_“Whose?”_

_“Hongbin’s! One of the nurses recognized him from all the times he brought you in here, and when they couldn’t reach you, they called me! Because aside from Hongbin, I’m your other emergency contact! Now, get your thick ass down here right this fucking minute, or I’m sending Joonie to pick you up and drag you here by force!”_

At some point, Sanghyuk had materialized next to Wonshik, and the doctor flinched in surprise when he looked over and saw his boss standing silently beside him. Sanghyuk’s face was filled with worry. For Jaehwan, Wonshik guessed, not for Hongbin, considering he had been the one to beat the gamer up.

Jaehwan snapped out of his daze, snatching the phone from Wonshik’s hand as he asked loudly, _“What happened to him? Is he ok?”_

_“No! Of course, he’s not fucking ok! He’s in the hospital! I mean, he’s not gunna die, but someone beat the ever-living shit out of him! Are you getting in the car? You’d better be getting in the car or I swear to god- “_

The hacker’s eyes flicked to Sanghyuk for half a second, before he replied, _“I’m coming, tell him I’m coming, okay?!”_

_“Good!”_

Seokjin ended the call, and Jaehwan handed Wonshik’s phone back so quickly that the doctor nearly dropped it. The hacker turned to leave, but Sanghyuk caught him around the waist and stopped him before he made it two feet.

“Let go of me,” Jaehwan hissed, his voice icier than the doctor had ever heard it. “Sweetheart, you’re in no condition to be dealing with this much stress,” Sanghyuk replied, parroting Wonshik’s words from two weeks ago. “The project, remember? It’s happening tonight and you need to be here. I don’t want you to make yourself sick by running around town, ok? Just stay here, I’m sure Hongbin is fine.”

“I said, let go of me!” Jaehwan shouted, spinning in the criminal’s arms and slapping Sanghyuk across the cheek. It looked like it hurt, the hacker hadn’t been holding back, and the momentum from his spin had probably made him hit harder than he could have otherwise.

It worked. Sanghyuk released the hacker, bringing one of his bruised hands up to cup his own cheek, surprise written clearly all over his face. “You deserved that, and you know it, but this is _my_ fault! I let you convince me to leave, I gave you my keys, I knew exactly what you were capable of doing! It’s my fault, and I have to go make sure he’s alright! I’ll be back in time to take care of the project, but I need to go!”

Sanghyuk was silent for a second, his surprise melting into that anguished look the doctor had seen only twice before. “Sweetheart, I’m sorry! Let me drive you, you shouldn’t drive when you’re this upset,” the criminal pleaded, trying to touch Jaehwan again. The hacker stepped quickly away, turning to the door as he replied coldly, “You’ve done enough. Start contacting your Japan team and make sure they’re ready.”

“I’ll drive,” Hakyeon said, walking right past Wonshik and opening the door. The second in command was taking charge as usual, his decisive tone leaving no room for argument. Jaehwan didn’t protest, hastily following Hakyeon out into the hall without a backward glance.

Wonshik’s feelings were all over the place. He was happy that such a good distraction had come along to take Sanghyuk’s mind off the issue of the traitor. He was overjoyed to have finally met the boy with lace-covered eyes, and he was delighted that Jaehwan didn’t seem to be angry with him after the procedure this morning. But he was also starting to get slightly worried about Sanghyuk’s mental state, since he was behaving so abnormally, and Wonshik was even more worried about Jaehwan getting worked up enough to hit someone. Last time that had happened, the hacker had an episode not 10 minutes later. But, Wonshik thought, he _was_ going to a hospital so if anything happened, he would be fine.

It was just Sanghyuk and Wonshik now, and the doctor looked over at his friend. Lines of heartbreak were etched on Sanghyuk’s young face, his cheek flushed red where Jaehwan had slapped him. “Smoke?” Wonshik asked, patting the criminal’s shoulder. Sanghyuk nodded.

\---

Jaehwan was panicking. He was sitting in the passenger seat of a very nice Mercedes that he hadn’t seen yet, staring blankly at the road. Hakyeon was driving, he was a very good driver, smoother and more controlled than Sanghyuk’s chaotic style. The hacker didn’t care that Hakyeon was coming along, he just really hadn’t wanted Sanghyuk to be there.

The criminal had hurt Hongbin. Jaehwan had known that was always a possibility considering that Sanghyuk had tried to shoot the gamer once before, but he hadn’t thought Sanghyuk had it in him to fight after their conversation. The criminal had seemed so drained, but maybe the temptation had been too strong.

“Sanghyuk was the one who called the ambulance,” Hakyeon said quietly, shifting gears as they pulled onto the highway. Jaehwan didn’t take in his words right away, frantic thoughts of all the things the criminal could have done to Hongbin running though his head. “What,” he mumbled, hiding his hands in the long sleeves of his shirt.

“Sanghyuk, he called the ambulance for Hongbin once he realized what he’d done. He didn’t want you to be angry with him,” Hakyeon replied, switching lanes and speeding up a bit. “He wouldn’t have had to call an ambulance if he learned to control himself,” Jaehwan snapped, curling his knees up against his chest.

“You have no idea how hard he’s trying, Jaehwan. Hongbin would have been dead weeks ago if Sanghyuk didn’t care for you so deeply. The fact that he didn’t shoot Hongbin today was nothing short of a miracle, especially since he was provoked.”

“How the fuck was _he_ provoked?! He’s the one who went to my penthouse to begin with! And the only reason he couldn’t have shot Hongbin was because I asked him to leave his gun when we went out this morning!” Jaehwan exclaimed angrily. He didn’t like excuses being made for Sanghyuk’s awful behavior, not one bit.

“All I know is that Hongbin had locked up your car and he went to ask for the key. Sanghyuk said something about Hongbin taunting him about getting into the compound. You have to ask Hongbin about the rest, Sanghyuk wouldn’t tell us. But the fact that he left his gun is still a huge step! You knew the kind of person you were dealing with when you took this job, Jaehwan, and I’m not going to lie to you. Sanghyuk can be violent sometimes, cruelly so, but he has a kind heart and the way you’re toying with him is going to break him. He’s trying so hard to be good for you, I’ve never seen him act this way before.”

Jaehwan’s eyes widened. Sanghyuk must know about what happened in the rose garden. No wonder he beat Hongbin up! What the hell was Hongbin thinking, telling the criminal that?! “I’m not toying with him,” Jaehwan lied, hating himself for it as the words left his mouth.

Hakyeon gave the hacker a look, his eyes flashing dangerously. The car slowed as it pulled off the highway and began to maneuver around the narrow city streets. “What do you think this is, then? Calling him baby and kissing him one second and running off to your boyfriend the next?”

“Ex-boyfriend,” Jaehwan corrected, as if that would make the accusation sound any less horrible. “Exactly! Sanghyuk treats you like a fucking prince, but you’re still coming back to your cheating ex! That’s why I’m keeping your watch for you! You’re not over Hongbin, and I’m fairly positive that sometime very soon, you’ll get back with him!”

“I asked if Sanghyuk wanted to stop today, before he gets hurt. I asked him twice, and he said no both times,” the hacker replied quietly, as the car pulled into the hospital garage. Hakyeon sighed. “That’s like asking an addict if he wants to quit while he’s still high. Of course, he said no.”

Jaehwan didn’t answer. He couldn’t think about Hakyeon’s words right now when Hongbin was injured. The second in command parked, trailing after Jaehwan as the hacker ran to the elevators. Neither said anything until they reached the reception desk in the lobby. “I’m here to see Lee Hongbin, I don’t know what room he’s in, but he was brought in in the last two hours,” Jaehwan said, panic constricting his throat as he spoke.

“Can I get your name, please? And your friends? What are your relationships to the patient?” the nurse asked, clicking around on her monitor. “Lee Jaehwan, I’m Hongbin’s emergency contact, and this is his cousin, Lee Hakyeon.” The nurse nodded, typing painfully slowly.

“Two of his other cousins have already checked in to see him, big family?” she asked as she typed. Jaehwan nodded, they lie coming easier than it should have. “Ok, he’s in room 408, have a nice day,” she called, but Jaehwan had already taken off, jogging to the elevators with Hakyeon in tow.

“Why did you say I’m his cousin?” Hakyeon asked, once they were standing in the otherwise empty elevator. “Because,” Jaehwan replied, jabbing the button marked _‘4’_ , “They usually won’t let you in unless you’re a family member, and if I told her you were the second in command of the Han crime syndicate, she would probably have some inconvenient questions.”

Hakyeon nodded, following Jaehwan out into the fourth-floor hallway. The hacker hurried along until he reached the room marked 408, took a deep breath, and pushed the door open.

“Fucking finally!” Seokjin shouted, his voice much too loud for the bedside of an injured person as he materialized in front of Jaehwan. A hand snaked out from behind a privacy curtain and smacked the coder’s shoulder. “He’s concussed, he’s not allowed to sleep! You should be louder!” Seokjin exclaimed, reaching over to smack the other person back.

“That doesn’t mean I want to listen to you _shriek_ ,” Hongbin’s voice called from further in the room, and Jaehwan’s heart stuttered. He pushed the curtain aside and scanned everything as fast as possible. It was large, fancier than the normal hospital room, with only one bed but several arm chairs and a giant flat screen TV on the far wall.

Then, Jaehwan saw Hongbin. He had a black eye, bruising covering his forehead and one of his cheeks, his lip swollen and stitched up in two different places. He smiled when he saw Jaehwan, or tried, but his wince of pain was obvious.

The fear Jaehwan had been keeping inside finally broke, rushing out of him in a sob. He ran to Hongbin, collapsing on his knees at the side of his bed and clutching the gamers hand in both of his. “You changed your hair,” Hongbin said, patting Jaehwan’s head with his free hand. “You look like you did when I met you.”

“Binnie, I’m so sorry, this is all my fault,” Jaehwan replied, his voice hitching and eyes prinking with tears for the second time today. “No, it’s not,” Taekwoon said from over by the curtain, but the hacker ignored him.

“It’s really not your fault, love, you weren’t even there,” Hongbin said, dropping his head back on the pillow and shutting his eyes. “Keep ‘em open!” Seokjin exclaimed, earning an angry glare from the hacker, but Hongbin blinked and stared at the ceiling.

“It is! I was going to come pick Bae up myself, but Sanghyuk convinced me to let him go instead!” Jaehwan replied, focusing back on his gamer. “Well, then I guess it _is_ your fault.” Jaehwan choked on another sob.

“I’m kidding, now will you get off the floor? Come here,” Hongbin continued, the corner of his mouth twitching up a little as he tugged on the hacker’s hand. Jaehwan stood up and sat on the edge of the narrow bed, letting Hongbin pull him down.

He was tucked securely in the crook of Hongbin’s arm, his head on Hongbin’s shoulder and his chunky sneakers dangling off the edge of the mattress. “It’s _my_ fault, angel, he came to ask me for something, and I said some things I shouldn’t have.”

“That’s because when you open your mouth, all you ever do is talk shit,” Taekwoon muttered, earning a low chuckle from the gamer. “Even so, you couldn’t have said anything bad enough to deserve this. Look at you,” Jaehwan replied, reaching up to touch Hongbin’s stitched lip, but stopping himself. He didn’t want to hurt the gamer more that he already had.

“What, am I not handsome enough for you anymore?” Hongbin asked, pretending to be offended. “You look like an eggplant someone kicked around a supermarket,” Seokjin replied, Taekwoon laughing softly at his side. Jaehwan paid no attention to either of their snickering friends, brushing Hongbin’s fringe off his forehead as he said, “You’ll always be handsome, Binnie, I just hate seeing you in pain.”

After a few seconds of very charged silence, the gamer looked away. “Hey Hakyeon, long time no see,” Hongbin said in a weirdly conversational tone. “I assume you know Seokjin, but that’s my friend Leo.”

“We know each other, unfortunately,” Taekwoon replied coldly. Seokjin was standing in between the rival gang members, looking like he would rather be _literally_ anywhere else. “Anyway... Hongbin was moved into this room like ten minutes before you got here, which I for one am thankful for, because his other room was shared and the guy wouldn’t stop snoring,” the coder said, tactfully changing the subject.

“Why did they switch you?” Jaehwan asked, staring at Hongbin’s bruised cheek. “You-know-who is on this hospitals board of directors. He probably pulled some strings, if I haven’t missed my guess,” Hakyeon replied, very kindly choosing not to say Sanghyuk’s name.

“Well that was nice of him,” Hongbin said cheerfully. “First, he called me an ambulance, and now a room upgrade! He must like me.” Jaehwan stared at his ex-boyfriend, worry and the urge to laugh fighting for his attention.

“That might be going a little far. The one he likes is Jaehwan, not you,” Hakyeon replied, making Hongbin chuckle again. “Oh, I know _exactly_ how much he likes my Jaehwanie.”

Nobody said anything for a minute, the hacker snuggling against the gamer and absorbing his body heat. Jaehwan wished he had thought to grab a coat when left the compound. “The hospital couldn’t reach me because I changed my number, otherwise I would have been here sooner,” he said, breaking the heavy silence.

Hongbin’s hand came up, tangling lazily in Jaehwan’s hair. “You look like how you looked when I fell in love with you,” the gamer said quietly, ignoring both Jaehwan’s previous statement and Seokjin’s exaggerated gagging noise.

Jaehwan’s heart twisted painfully in his chest. “Don’t say things like that,” he replied, his voice lacking the conviction he wished it had. “I’m concussed, I can’t help it. Especially when you look so pretty, angel.”

The hacker squeezed his eyes shut, forcing himself not to sob again. “Are you staying? I assume the psycho sent him along to keep an eye on you,” Hongbin asked, waving in Hakyeon’s direction and looking down at Jaehwan. “I can’t, my big project,” Jaehwan replied, unsure if he wanted to stay here in Hongbin’s arms forever or run screaming from the room.

“I just needed to make sure you weren’t going to die,” he continued in a whisper, self-hatred burning like bile in the back of his throat. “It’s very weird being the patient, usually I’m the one looking after you,” Hongbin replied, sounding very drowsy as his eyes slid shut.

Seokjin clapped, making the gamer open them. “I know, I don’t like it,” Jaehwan murmured, glancing over at Hakyeon. The second in command was on his phone, no doubt reporting everything the hacker did back to Sanghyuk. “He said you found a new place, is it pretty?” Hongbin asked, tracing one of Jaehwan’s eyebrows with the pad of his index finger.

“Yeah, it’s two stories and it’s not far from our place, so I already know I like the neighborhood. Lots of Cherrywood and granite. I might get a cat. Since it has so many bedrooms, the cat can have its own,” Jaehwan replied, trying to make Hongbin laugh. It worked.

“You’ll scare the poor cat to death every time you swear at your computer or start banging on walls for no reason,” the gamer said, poking the tip of Jaehwan’s nose. Against his better judgment, the hacker smiled. “How are you going to handle living alone, love? What if you get sick and there’s nobody there to find you and take care of you?”

Hakyeon spoke up before Jaehwan had the chance to say he didn’t know. “Our doctor has agreed to keep treating Jaehwan and will continue administering his medication every 72 hours. Whether that means house calls or Jaehwan returning to our compound is up to him, our doctor is open to either. As for getting sick when he’s alone, I have already set up a rotation for a security detail to keep an eye on him once he leaves. Close, but not intrusively so, and they will help him if he has an episode. This will also help keep him safe while he’s under threat of violence from outside sources.”

The second in command shot an icy glare in Taekwoon’s direction, but if the thief noticed, he didn’t comment on it. Jaehwan’s eyes widened. He hadn’t known any of that, he hadn’t even started to think about needing his shots after he left. “Well… I can’t argue with how good all of that sounds,” Hongbin replied, clearly a bit surprised by Hakyeon’s near robotic efficiency.

“I’m glad your new treatment is working so well. You look good, love. Strong.” Seokjin scoffed, earning a cold stare from Hongbin. “ _Stronger_ , maybe, but not strong. You could still snap him like a twig,” Seokjin exclaimed, unapologetically blunt as always.

Hongbin rolled his eyes and resumed playing with Jaehwan’s hair as silence filled the room for a moment. “They’re keeping me overnight for observation, head wound, you know, but I should be home tomorrow.”

“Are you two staying?” Jaehwan asked, looking from Taekwoon to Seokjin. His anger at the latter for ruining his life, twice now, was drying up. Seokjin was here. He hadn’t had to come, hadn’t needed to call Jaehwan, but he had. “Yeah, I’ve already canceled all my meetings for the rest of the day, and Joonie is bringing us takeout for dinner because I _refuse_ to eat hospital food,” the coder replied, going to plop down in one of the armchairs.

“I am too, I have nothing better to do,” Taekwoon said, making Hongbin laugh a little. “Thanks, both of you. I wish I didn’t have to go,” Jaehwan replied truthfully. The fact that he was being honest didn’t make it hurt any less.

“But, you have too. Duty calls,” Hongbin said softly, resting his unbruised cheek on top of Jaehwan’s head. “Go do what you’ve gotta do, angel. Come home where you’re free, we’ll go over separating our things and I’ll help you pack.”

This time, Jaehwan was unable to stop the whimper that clawed its way out of his throat. He had never deserved someone like Hongbin, he always knew that, but the knowledge felt like nails scraping across the inside of his ribcage. “Love, don’t cry, please. You know I hate it when you cry.”

The hacker nodded, pinching the inside of his own arm to stop the tears threatening to spill down his cheeks. He could cry later.

“Okay, I should get back. Thanks for keeping an eye on him,” Jaehwan said, once he had mastered his voice somewhat. It still sounded a little like a croak, but it would do for now. “I love you,” Hongbin murmured, starting to shut his eyes again, but Jaehwan pushing himself up off the bed woke the gamer back up.

Hakyeon followed Jaehwan out of the hospital room and down the hall, into the elevator, and finally to the garage. They both got in Hakyeon’s car. The second in command didn’t say a word as Jaehwan began to cry, hiding his face in his hands and curling up into a ball on the passenger seat.

**Chapter 20: The Embrace**   
**Summary:**

**'Jaehwan tasted like Redbull and MSG, but Sanghyuk couldn’t think of anything sweeter.'**

_ The Embrace: _

“Okay, you’ve got it?” Jaehwan asked, pressing a button on his headset and typing ferociously fast with his free hand. 

Numbers and letters were dancing across his monitors, there one second and scrolled away the next. Hakyeon and Sanghyuk were standing behind Jaehwan, watching in silence, Wonshik sitting on the couch. Sanghyuk had an earpiece of his own, and he listened as the team leader gave commands to the others, before answering Jaehwan’s question in the affirmative.

“Okay go down the corridor you came through and make a left, then two rights. You’ll come to a set of white double doors, tell me when you’re there.”

Jaehwan pulled up a building schematic on one of his monitors, a route already traced in blinking blue light, mumbling incomprehensibly to himself. He was using his mouse with one hand, clicking around the map while still typing with the other hand, strings of code appearing on a different screen than the one he was looking at. Sanghyuk had never seen anything like it, the hacker was using his computers like extensions of his body.

_“We’ve reached the doors,”_ the unit leader said through the headset, and Jaehwan pulled up what looked like a security camera feed of a pair of white double doors. Nobody was in the frame, which seemed to please the hacker, because he clapped twice and said, “Good! Go through them and down the staircase. When you get to the bottom, there will be three doors. Take the left one, it has an emergency exit sign on it, but I disabled the alarm so you can get outside easily.”

Through the headset, Sanghyuk heard the sound of doors being opened, but the picture didn’t change. “Is that a different door?” Hakyeon asked, voicing Sanghyuk’s thoughts. “No, they went through that one. I looped the feed of the empty hallway so it would look deserted, I just wanted to make sure it was working.”

Jaehwan hadn’t even turned when he answered, too absorbed in his computers _. “We just went out the fire exit,”_ one of the men said through the headset. “Okay, go right and circle around the building until you reach the service entrance. Your van is already waiting for you, so get in and go. Tell me when you’re back on the main road, I’ll wait to drop my controls until you’re in the clear.

Sanghyuk heard running footsteps, but there was something nagging at him. “If they check to see if the file is safe, won’t they notice its missing?” he asked, taking a step closer to Jaehwan’s chair but stopping himself from touching his hacker. “I made a dummy file, and your men switched them when they retrieved the real one. If the bad guys check, they will see a document with the same name and the exact same size, but we’re only in trouble if they open it.”

“Why? What does it say?” Hakyeon asked, making Jaehwan laugh softly. “It’s 26 pages of _‘gotcha losers’_ written over and over again,” the hacker replied, closing the building schematic and pulling up another HTML window. Sanghyuk grinned. He was so happy that their project had worked, and he was getting the file, that he nearly forgot Jaehwan was angry with him. Nearly.

He couldn’t block it from his mind entirely, nor could he forget the things Hongbin had told him, no matter how much he wanted too. _‘He will never, ever love you.’_ Sanghyuk shook his head, trying to clear it. Hakyeon had reported everything that happened at the hospital, including the fact that Jaehwan had cried the entire way home. He said that Hongbin admitted the fight was his fault, but instead of getting angry, Jaehwan had climbed into the gamers bed and let Hongbin shower him with compliments.

When Hakyeon and Jaehwan had arrived back at the compound, the hacker had locked himself in his guest room for several hours, refusing to speak to Sanghyuk or anyone else, but when he emerged it was like nothing had happened at all. He didn’t say a word about the hospital or Hongbin, nor anything about slapping the criminal before he left. Sanghyuk knew that he had deserved it, but he hated the thought of Jaehwan being upset with him.

_“All clear, boss,”_ one of the men said through the headset. “Good job. Transfer the file to Ken as soon as you reach the safe house and then I’ll deposit your payments,” Sanghyuk replied, speaking into his microphone for the first time since the operation began, and nearly forgetting to call Jaehwan by his codename.

He and Jaehwan both took their headsets off, the hacker hitting the enter key on his keyboard as a green dot began to blink in the corner of one of his monitors. “What’s that?” Hakyeon asked, walking over and poking the dot. “Don’t poke my computer! Finger prints!” Jaehwan exclaimed, waving Hakyeon off before continuing, “It’s a signal that my exit program is running.”

“Just shutting everything off all at once would freak the security out, like leaving a big hole in the center of it. My program is going to exit in very slow stages, so it can fill itself back in. It will be done in a few hours though, so don’t worry.”

“You talk about code like it has feelings,” Wonshik said, standing from the couch and stretching. “It does have feelings, but not the human kind. Too complicated for me to explain,” Jaehwan replied, shutting off all but the center monitor and standing as well.

“I’m genuinely surprised that worked,” Hakyeon murmured, ignoring Jaehwan’s glare. “If you doubted me, then you shouldn’t have hired me,” the hacker said sharply, tossing his empty redbull can in the trash before switching on the overhead light.

“Thank you for working so hard, sweetheart,” Sanghyuk said, taking the hackers hand and giving it a little squeeze. Jaehwan smiled, but his eyes remained emotionless, closed off. “That’s what you paid me for.”

Sanghyuk tried again. “Do you want to eat something? You must be starving, you haven’t had any food since breakfast.” Jaehwan’s gaze wandered, unfocused as he stared over the criminal’s shoulder. “Sure,” he replied, conspicuously lacking any of his usual excitement at the mention of food.

Sanghyuk was going to have to apologize. There was no getting around that, but he didn’t want to do it in front of his friends. They already thought he was losing his mind, no point in giving them more evidence to support that idea.

He pulled Jaehwan out of his workroom by the hand, leaving Hakyeon and Wonshik behind. “What sounds good?” he asked, trying to ignore the fact that Jaehwan still wasn’t looking at him. “Anything, I just need _something_ , so I stop shaking.”

Sanghyuk realized that Jaehwan’s hand was trembling in his, no doubt a side effect of the caffeinated drinks he had been pounding since he left his guestroom. The criminal wanted to bring up Hongbin, needing to get that conversation over with so he could stop feeling like he was tiptoeing through a mine field, but he kept his mouth shut.

They reached the kitchen and Jaehwan marched right into the pantry, grabbing a bag of Cheetos before hopping up on the counter. He looked so pretty, perched there, his long legs swinging back and forth as he munched on the snack, that Sanghyuk could stop himself from resting his hands on Jaehwan’s knees.

“So, what did he say to you?” Jaehwan asked, his voice so conversational it bordered on disinterested. He was staring through the criminal, not at him, and Sanghyuk realized he hated that look more than he hated Jaehwan crying. At least crying had some concrete emotion behind it. This _nothing_ , like the criminal didn’t even exist, made Sanghyuk’s skin crawl.

The criminal hesitated, not sure of how much he was going to say. His hands began running up and down Jaehwan’s thighs of their own accord, and he looked away before replying, “Essentially what you told me when we were at your new place, just a lot meaner.”

“Explain in more detail. You didn’t beat the shit out of me when I told you, so why exactly did you do that to him.”

“I would never hit you, no matter what you said!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, both hurt by Jaehwan’s comment and a little offended. “I called you a murder and you nearly choked me out.”

“I wasn’t actually trying to choke you, I just needed you to listen to me! Trust me, if I had been trying to choke you, you’d be dead!” Sanghyuk said, regretting the words as soon as they left his mouth.

“Im sure I would be,” Jaehwan said seriously, his eyes suddenly much too focused on the criminals’ face. “What did he say to push you over the edge? It sounds like you two had some kind of conversation beforehand, considering you told him I picked an apartment.”

Sanghyuk was starting to get frustrated. Apologizing was hard enough for him on its own, this interrogation wasn’t helping. “He kept saying you should go see him yourself, how else was I supposed to try and make him understand that it wasn’t going to happen?! What does it matter anyway? You had already told him you were out looking at places!”

Jaehwan’s eyes narrowed. “Yes, I did. I texted and told him to start separating our stuff so the movers would know what to take. Now answer my question, what did he say?”

_‘You don’t know how to look at him in the way that makes him start begging for you on the spot.’_ Sanghyuk’s eyes were flicking all over the kitchen, scrambling for something to say that wasn’t so graphic.

“He said- he kept taunting me! Saying that I was just a distraction and that I would- we would never have what you and he do. That I don’t actually know you,” the criminal said, holding onto the outside of Jaehwan’s thighs like it would help keep him grounded.

“What else?” the hacker asked, setting the bag of Cheeto’s on the counter beside him and folding his hands in his lap. He didn’t sound as cold as before, but his tone was no less demanding. His expression was completely blank, and Sanghyuk wished he knew what he was thinking. _‘We can understand each other so well that it’s practically mind reading.’_

“That you two did something in the garden, which I do _not_ want to know the details of, and that you told him you love him. He said I’m making your life a living hell, and that you’ll never love me no matter what I do. He also said a lot of other things about you that I won’t repeat, because I’m a gentleman, but trust me when I say that they were nasty.”

Jaehwan was practically x-raying the criminal with his eyes, neither confirming nor denying the truthfulness of Hongbin’s claims. “Hearing all of it right after our conversation- I tried just letting him talk and not reacting, but he wouldn’t stop! Would you have let yourself be spoken too like that?” Sanghyuk asked, praying that the hacker would take his side. If not, then at least that he would understand.

“That was all very unnecessary of him, and I’m sorry he said those things to you,” Jaehwan replied after a solid thirty seconds, reaching out and brushing the back of his knuckles across the criminal’s cheek. Sanghyuk melted into the touch, grateful for even that tiny bit of affection.

“I’m so sorry I hit him, but the things he said about you- it got to me and I lost control of my temper. I called the ambulance as soon as I realized what I did, and I had the hospital get him a better room. I know that doesn’t make up for it, but I wanted to try and make it at least a little better. I’m sorry,” Sanghyuk said, his hands moving up to rest on Jaehwan’s hips as he nuzzled the hacker’s palm.

Jaehwan was quiet for a minute, until he said, “I’m not going to tell you it’s ok, because it’s not. Neither of you behaved even close to correctly, but I get it. And I’m sorry for slapping you earlier, that wasn’t right.”

“No, I deserved it,” Sanghyuk replied, relief crashing over him as he pulled his hacker into a very tight hug. Jaehwan hugged him back, and it took everything in his power not to picture Jaehwan curled up on a hospital bed next to Hongbin.

“What’s your favorite color,” he asked, once Jaehwan released him and resumed eating Cheeto’s. The hacker blinked, but replied, “Black and white, what’s yours?”

“The same for me,” Sanghyuk said, stealing one of the snacks from the bag. “Also, do you sing?”

Jaehwan looked a bit taken aback, his pretty lips starting to be tinted orange. “Yeah, occasionally. Why?” he asked, once he finished chewing. “Sing something for me.”

The hacker blinked again, but he set the bag back down and cleared his throat.

_“You say I’m crazy,”_

_“Cause’ you don’t think I know what you’ve done,”_

_“But when you call me baby,”_

_“I know I’m not the only one.”_

As soon as Jaehwan had started to sing, Sanghyuk’s mouth dropped open. His voice was the most beautiful thing the criminal had ever heard, a high, clear tenor that was so soulful and melodic, Sanghyuk was surprised he wasn’t a professional. He should be.

“Where did you learn to sing like that?” Sanghyuk asked, once he had regained the ability to speak. Jaehwan shrugged, popping a Cheeto in his mouth before replying, “If you’re stuck at home for the majority of your life, you find things to keep yourself occupied.”

Now, Sanghyuk was the one that blinked, the hacker’s angelic voice still echoing inside his head. He watched Jaehwan eat in silence until the hacker rolled up the open side of the bag and dropped it next to him. “I’m still hungry, but those aren’t doing it for me anymore.”

Before he could master the impulse, Sanghyuk cupped Jaehwan’s cheeks and leaned in, kissing the hacker fiercely. Jaehwan made an indignant little noise, but his lips parted for the criminals anyway. His palms came to rest on Sanghyuk’s chest as he kissed the criminal back.

Sanghyuk ran his tongue along the edge of the hacker’s teeth, his hands moving down to Jaehwan’s lower back, the underside of his thigh. The denim of the hacker’s skinny jeans was coarse under his fingers, and he felt Jaehwan’s muscles flex as he wrapped his legs around the criminal’s waist.

Jaehwan sighed quietly when the criminal’s hands found their way under his shirt, pushing up the bulky fabric to expose his narrow frame for only a single moment. Sanghyuk couldn’t stop moving, couldn’t settle in one place. The next moment he was cupping the back of Jaehwan’s head and holding the hacker’s jaw, licking into his mouth and nipping his bottom lip. Jaehwan tasted like redbull and MSG, but the criminal couldn’t think of anything sweeter.

“Sang-Sanghyukkie, are you… sure you want… to do this now?” Jaehwan asked breathlessly, his words trailing off every time the criminal kissed him. In answer, Sanghyuk peeled the hacker’s shirt off and dropped it on the kitchen floor. He gently mouthed at Jaehwan’s throat, drinking in the hacker’s soft little moans as he snapped open the button on Jaehwan’s jeans.

He wanted this. _God_ , he wanted this more than he had ever wanted anything before in his life. He made sure to avoid Jaehwan’s band-aid when he sucked a dark red mark onto the pale skin of the hacker’s neck. “It’s been kind of… an emotional day.”

“Exactly,” Sanghyuk replied easily. Hongbin said he got Jaehwan to say ‘I love you’ during whatever the two of them had done in the garden, even though the hacker had still been furious at the gamer. Maybe Sanghyuk could get him to say it too.

“You still haven’t told me what kind of things you like, sweetheart. You always just take what I give you,” the criminal purred, hoping for clues as he hastily unbuttoned his own shirt and dropped it on top of Jaehwan’s. Sanghyuk had a general idea, but it was still good to ask.

Jaehwan swallowed audibly as the criminal trailed kisses along his jaw, and his voice was a little higher when he replied, “Intense, usually rough but nothing too crazy, and I prefer it bare.”

“What else?” Sanghyuk asked, running his hand up the side of Jaehwan’s torso. “Giving head, spanking, hair pulling… I don’t know! The usual things, I guess. What do you like? I never asked you either.”

What Sanghyuk _liked_ was literally everything Jaehwan had ever done. But he had kept his main kink to himself, not wanting to put the hacker off. He might as well say it now, though. It wasn’t ‘too crazy’, and judging by Jaehwan’s personality, he may actually like it too.

“I like being called daddy,” the criminal replied softly, nibbling on Jaehwan’s earlobe. The hacker exhaled a shaky “Oh,” the corner of his mouth twitching up in a mischievous grin. “I can do that for you daddy, whatever daddy wants.”

Sanghyuk got hard so fast it almost made him dizzy. “Say that for me again,” the criminal murmured, grazing Jaehwan’s adam’s apple with his teeth. “Whatever daddy wants,” Jaehwan purred, and Sanghyuk growled against his skin in a perverse sort of delight.

The criminal lifted Jaehwan into his arms and then sat down on the floor, letting the hacker straddle him. Jaehwan looked a bit surprised by the move, and he asked, “Are we not going somewhere else?”

“I told you this morning that I wanted to fuck you in the kitchen,” Sanghyuk replied, tangling a hand in Jaehwan’s dark hair. “That was a different kitchen, but ok,” the hacker said, trailing kisses across the criminal’s collarbone.

_‘He’s using you to try and get the feelings fucked out of him.’_ So what?! If this was how Jaehwan coped, then fine. If it would help him get over Hongbin faster, great! Sanghyuk would thoroughly enjoy every second of it.

Deciding to use _all_ the information he had inadvertently gathered before his altercation, Sanghyuk let Jaehwan go. He leaned his head back, so it rested against the cabinet, looking at the hacker through his lashes and trying to make his gaze as intense as possible.

“What- why did you stop?” Jaehwan asked, an adorable expression of confusion on his pretty face. Sanghyuk folded his hands behind his head, letting his eyes lazily roam up and down the hacker’s body before replying, “I just wanted to admire the artwork.”

Jaehwan squirmed a little, and the criminal stopped himself from grinning. “You look even more beautiful with your new hair than you did before, and that’s saying something.” The hacker squirmed again, more obviously this time, scooting so he was sitting higher on Sanghyuk’s lap.

“Absolutely stunning.” The tips of Jaehwan’s fingers roamed across the criminal’s bare stomach, over the dips and rises of his abdomen, his plush bottom lip jutting out in a little pout. Sanghyuk glanced down, the movement slow and deliberate, eyeing the hacker’s jeans. Half open and riding low on his slim hips. “No underwear. Huh,” he murmured, keeping his tone flat.

Jaehwan leaned in to kiss the criminal, but Sanghyuk turned his head away, not showing any of the amusement he felt at Jaehwan’s disgruntled little squeak. “Daddy, stop it,” the hacker said impatiently, tapping Sanghyuk’s chest like he wanted the criminal’s attention. That wasn’t playing fair, in Sanghyuk’s opinion, but he could hold out a little while longer.

“Stop what, sweetheart? You’re so gorgeous, I can’t tare my eyes away,” Sanghyuk replied, watching the hacker’s frown deepen. “You can look at me while you’re fucking me,” Jaehwan said, his voice getting _distinctly_ pouty as he pawed at the criminal’s belt buckle.

Sanghyuk stayed quiet, peering at Jaehwan’s face like he was thinking. The hacker tried to kiss him again, but this time when he was denied, he leaned down further and pressed his mouth to the base of criminal’s throat. Sanghyuk hummed appreciatively, but he didn’t move. This was honestly too easy.

Not even a full minute of the silent treatment later, Jaehwan whined, “Come on daddy, touch me! I know you want too!” The hacker had draped himself around the criminal and had been grinding his hips down against Sanghyuk’s crotch for the last thirty seconds or so, his arms locked tightly around Sanghyuk’s neck.

“Why should I? You’re going to come in those sexy little jeans of yours any minute now. Why should I intervene when you’re doing so well on your own?” Jaehwan whimpered in the criminal’s ear, his hands knotting in the criminal’s hair. That was what Sanghyuk had been waiting for, and he smirked. “Let me suck your cock, _please_?”

“Of course, sweetheart, whatever you want. Just, get rid of your jeans first. They look incredible on you, but I prefer you with nothing,” the criminal replied, feeling very smug at the speed with which Jaehwan complied. The hacker stood up and shimmied out of his jeans, biting his lip as he knelt beside Sanghyuk and hurried to undo his belt.

“You have such pretty lips sweetheart, have I ever told you?” Sanghyuk asked, finally lowering one of his arms and tracing Jaehwan’s mouth. The hacker shook his head, distracted, as he unzipped the criminal’s grey slacks. Sanghyuk had changed out of his maroon suit as soon as Jaehwan had gone to the hospital which, on balance, had been a smart move. It _did_ have Hongbin’s blood all over it. 

Before Jaehwan could begin, the criminal tapped the hacker’s mouth. He opened it obediently, sucking on two of Sanghyuk’s fingers and closing his eyes. Jaehwan looked so beautiful, sitting there with his legs tucked under him, his head lolling a bit to the side, that Sanghyuk almost forgot to breath. He let it go on, needing his fingers to be at least a little wet for what he had in mind, before pulling them out of the hacker’s mouth with a _pop_.

Jaehwan looked at the criminal, dazed, as he bent down and circled Sanghyuk’s cock with one hand. He began to pump it slowly, wrapping his lips around the tip and licking the slit like he was sucking on a lollipop. Sanghyuk groaned under his breath, the feeling of Jaehwan’s mouth on him making his eyelids flutter.

The criminal curled Jaehwan’s hair around his thumb as he took Sanghyuk deeper, bobbing his head up and down in time with the movement of his hand. His perky ass was in the air, and a better man than Sanghyuk may have been able to resist that temptation, but the criminal _could not_. Sanghyuk ran his hand down the hacker’s back, pausing momentarily to admire his dimples, before he tapped teasingly on Jaehwan’s entrance.

The hacker gagged, something that hadn’t happened once during the several blowjobs the criminal had received so far, and Sanghyuk grinned. Jaehwan must have lost focus. “Spread your legs, sweetheart,” he said, making his voice low, and Jaehwan complied instantly. He was running his tongue along the vein of Sanghyuk’s cock when the criminal pushed his middle finger past his rim.

Jaehwan moaned around the length in his mouth, as high and clear as his beautiful singing voice, Sanghyuk realized. His back arched as the criminal moved in and out, thrusting his finger in short bursts of motion. The hacker mouthed Sanghyuk’s shaft, whining loudly as the criminal switched to his index finger.

Jaehwan’s soft lips felt so good to the criminal, every movement was electric. Euphoric. He could feel the hacker trembling under his touch, losing his rhythm when Sanghyuk’s cock hit the back of his throat.

“You’re so tight, baby,” Sanghyuk purred, moving his hand a little quicker. Jaehwan dropped his head on the criminal’s thigh, apparently having completely forgotton what he was doing. He was panting, fingers curling through Sanghyuk’s belt loop.

Sanghyuk pushed the hacker’s hair off his forehead, his thumb moving in slow circles on Jaehwan’s temple as he added his middle finger, scissoring him open. “Harder daddy, _please_ ,” Jaehwan whined, wriggling and trying to rock his hips back. “I adore it when you beg, sweetheart, but we’ll get caught if you keep being this loud.”

“What? Its _ahh_ \- you’re h-house,” the hacker mumbled, his breath hot through the fabric of Sanghyuk’s pant leg. “I know, but do you want my men to hear you whining for me like that?” Sanghyuk replied, hooking his fingers so he brushed Jaehwan’s prostate.

“ _Fuck_ ,” Jaehwan keened, sinking further to the floor with each thrust of the criminal’s fingers. Sanghyuk didn’t want to push the hacker too far, he was still sick after all. So, he _didn’t_ yank Jaehwan’s head up by the hair and fuck his throat until the hacker cried. He didn’t. he _wanted_ too, but he didn’t. Instead, he let Jaehwan suck on the fingers of his other hand, his tongue circling them almost absently.

Sanghyuk wasn’t really very worried about being overheard. The kitchen wasn’t sound proof, why would it be? It’s a _kitchen_. His men knew better than to come in if they heard anything anyway. He was a little worried about Hakyeon though, who would most likely throw a fit if he found the criminal fingering Jaehwan in his precious workspace.

Putting those thoughts aside, Sanghyuk focused on the matter at hand. He cooed to his hacker, stretching him until he came, a sweaty, wriggling mess in Sanghyuk’s lap. Jaehwan whimpered into Sanghyuk’s palm when the criminal’s touch left him.

“You did so well, sweetheart. Can you come for me again?” Sanghyuk asked softly, his eyes hooded as he pulled Jaehwan up to a sitting position. The hacker nodded, leaning in to kiss the criminal’s cheek. Sanghyuk captured his lips, cradling Jaehwan’s face and trying to pour every ounce of his overwhelming love into the kiss. Conveying the feeling without actually saying the words.

Their lips fit together perfectly, moving against each other almost desperately as Jaehwan adjusted himself so he was straddling the criminal again. “Daddy, lemme ride you,” the hacker murmured, rolling his hips so their erections brushed together. Sanghyuk nodded, watching Jaehwan lift himself up. The hacker positioned himself accordingly, before lowering himself back onto Sanghyuk’s cock.

“Oh _fuck_ ,” he whimpered, clutching Sanghyuk’s shoulders. “Good?” the criminal asked, circling Jaehwan’s waist to hold him in place. “Uh huh,” Jaehwan breathed, adjusting for a moment before starting to slowly rock his hips.

Jaehwan bit his lip as he bounced up and down on the criminal’s lap, hiding his face in the crook of Sanghyuk’s neck. The position was so much more intimate than anything they had tried before, and Sanghyuk looked down at Jaehwan’s exquisite body as he moved against him, his moans filling the criminal’s ears.

Sanghyuk gripped his hacker’s waist tighter, helping to keep Jaehwan steady. His mind had gone foggy, the heat of Jaehwan around him drove everything else from his head.

“You’re so perfect sweetheart, I’ve never seen anything more perfect,” Sanghyuk said a bit huskily, tilting his head back against the cabinet behind him. He groaned a little as he felt Jaehwan’s fingertips dig into his shoulder, and his hacker’s hot breath was like a rush of bliss every time Jaehwan exhaled against his skin.

He slid a hand around to rest on Jaehwan’s lower back, reaching the other up and to hold one of Jaehwan’s hands. Their fingers laced together, and the hacker gently pressed the back of Sanghyuk’s hand against the cabinet as he rocked his hips, moving up and down a little quicker.

Their chests were nearly flush, and Jaehwan raised his head to peer blearily at the criminal. He looked really out of it, his lips kiss swollen and his hooded eyes roaming around Sanghyuk’s face. “What is it, sweetheart?” Sanghyuk asked, thrusting up a little so he could hear more of Jaehwan’s breathy moans.

“I- I don’t know,” the hacker whimpered, dropping his head, his forehead pressed against Sanghyuk’s as he wrapped his arm around the criminal’s neck. “Do you want to stop? Does it hurt?” Sanghyuk asked, hoping that wasn’t the case. He had to ask, though, he didn’t want to make Jaehwan sick.

“Fuck no,” Jaehwan replied breathlessly, rolling his hips in smooth circles as he kissed the criminal deeply. Sanghyuk thrust up into him again, holding the hacker securely against him, inhaling Jaehwan’s moans.

Sanghyuk was so weak for Jaehwan in this moment. In every moment, actually, but especially now. The hacker’s wet heat surrounding him, the breathy sounds he made echoing around the kitchen, his plush lips moving against the criminal’s as if he couldn’t kiss the criminal deeply enough. Sanghyuk would give him anything. Everything. He would give Jaehwan the world, the moon, the stars, whatever he wanted.

“Sanghyukkie… daddy, so… good, so _much_ ,” the hacker whined, dropping his head back in pleasure and squeezing his eyes shut. The criminal leaned down, sucking on Jaehwan’s neck almost languorously as his hand slid into Jaehwan’s hair. The hacker released Sanghyuk’s other hand, moving to rest it on his nape instead.

This was not the kind of sex the criminal had been anticipating earlier. He thought, after their conversation and then the fight, that Jaehwan would fuck him mechanically. Rough and unemotional. Just something to take his mind off the day’s events. This was _not_ that. This was personal, rife with an unspoken need for closeness, comfort. If Sanghyuk had to give it a name, he would call it making love.

Smiling to himself, he lowered his hands to Jaehwan’s waist and held him in place, his cock buried deep inside the hacker as he stopped Jaehwan’s movements. The criminal wanted him to beg. Not because he was trying to tease, but because hearing how much Jaehwan needed him ignited the _joy_ in the pit of his stomach.

“What are you- why?” Jaehwan keened, trying to wriggle free and get some friction. Sanghyuk kept him still, watching the hacker’s chest rise and fall with each of his shallow pants. “Why what?” he asked, the tips of his fingers pressing firmly into Jaehwan’s hips. “Let me move, Sanghyukkie please, please, _please_!”

Sanghyuk swallowed hard, noting the precum starting to leak from the hacker’s cock, hard against his stomach. “No,” he murmured, tilting his head and dotting kisses along Jaehwan’s jaw.

“But _daddy_!” the hacker whined, tugging on Sanghyuk’s hair. His whole body was shaking. “Tell me how much you want it, sweetheart.”

“So, so much,” Jaehwan choked, looking imploringly into the criminal’s eyes and pulling his hair a bit more urgently. Sanghyuk waited, his own breathing getting a bit unsteady. “Sanghyukkie, fuck! Let me have you! I feel like I’m going to die if you don’t!” Jaehwan sobbed, dropping his head and weakly smacking the criminal’s shoulder. He sounded like a toddler whose favorite toy had been taken away.

_‘Now you know how I feel’_ , Sanghyuk thought, letting himself slide down a bit until his foot touched the baseboard of the opposite cabinet. He looked up at his hacker, realizing with a sudden rush of _something_ that Jaehwan’s bottom lip was quivering. He looked like he was about to start crying for real.

Obligingly, the criminal snapped his hips as much as he could in their current position. Once. Jaehwan collapsed against his chest, letting out a sort of strangled groan as Sanghyuk’s hands slid down around the back of the hacker’s thighs.

He did it again and again, matching the frantic pace Jaehwan set, marveling at the smoothness of the hacker’s skin under his fingertips. Jaehwan’s black hair tickled his chin, and his mind suddenly flashed back to when it was still white-gold. The hacker in his arms, crying after his disastrous phone call. He liked this scenario much better.

“You’re so beautiful I can’t fucking s-stand it,” Sanghyuk murmured, squeezing Jaehwan’s thighs a little as he drowned in the hacker’s unending steam of moans. In that moment, the criminal realized that he didn’t care if Hongbin was right about him. He didn’t want what Hongbin had with Jaehwan, he wanted what he and the hacker had right now. This was incomparable, a chemistry all their own, and he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Sanghyuk took control then, cradling Jaehwan against him as he sat up before laying the hacker on his back on the floor and thrusting into him roughly. Jaehwan’s legs instantly wrapped around his waist, pillowing his head on one of his arms and clutching Sanghyuk’s bicep with the other.

He had a hand braced on either side of the hacker, fucking into him as hard as he could and kissing the hollow between Jaehwan’s collarbones. “Nngh- daddy just like that,” Jaehwan whimpered, the sound of their skin slapping ringing in the criminal’s ears.

Jaehwan reached for the criminal, pulling him into a filthy, open-mouthed kiss that turned the pleasant heat in Sanghyuk’s stomach into a wildfire. A sob wracked the hackers slim frame, and Sanghyuk felt his walls clench as Jaehwan came again, surrendering himself completely.

Sanghyuk’s heart beat out a ragged rhythm against his ribcage. “Sanghyukkie- daddy, I love… ahh I love it when you do that,” Jaehwan whimpered, the words tumbling from his lips as the criminal came deep inside him, filling the hacker up.

\---

“Sorry I didn’t spank you or pull your hair,” Sanghyuk said a minute later, his breathing still heavy as he gently pulled out and sat up, detangling himself from Jaehwan’s long limbs and reaching for his button down. His slacks were still mostly on, so he cleaned himself off with his shirt before zipping them back up.

“I honestly didn’t notice. Everything else was so good,” Jaehwan panted, shutting his eyes as the criminal wiped him clean. Not in the mood to even begin thinking about laundry, Sanghyuk balled up his shirt and tossed it in the trash can before collapsing back on the floor.

Jaehwan rolled over, laying his head in the criminal’s lap and poking Sanghyuk’s bellybutton. “I’m sorry I said- I didn’t mean to use that word, I…” the hacker murmured, trailing off. Sanghyuk shook his head, looking down into Jaehwan’s coffee colored eyes. “Don’t apologize, you’ll ruin your afterglow,” he replied, smoothing the hacker’s hair off his sweaty forehead. “I’m not going to pressure you into saying something you don’t want too. Take your time, sweetheart, you’re safe with me no matter what.”

It was true. The criminal decided half way through to give up his attempt to try and _make_ Jaehwan say it. The hacker wouldn’t have meant it, and when he did say it, if he did, Sanghyuk wanted him to _mean_ it.

“Thank you,” Jaehwan said, smiling genuinely for the first time tonight. His mouth quirked up and his eyes little crescents. “Of course. Now, let’s get you dressed.”

Sanghyuk helped the hacker to his feet, holding his hand as he grabbed Jaehwan’s jeans off the floor. “How the hell did you get these on by yourself?” Sanghyuk asked, trying to tug them up once the hacker had stepped into them.

“Patience and a lot of jumping,” Jaehwan replied happily, holding Sanghyuk’s shoulders for balance. “I’m not good at being patient,” the criminal replied, yanking them up so quickly that he accidentally lifted Jaehwan off the floor. It was very effective, but unfortunately the belt loops Sanghyuk had used ripped clean off the waist band.

“What is it with you! This is the second pair of my pants you’ve broken!” Jaehwan exclaimed, smacking the criminal’s shoulder. “I have a personal vendetta against all of your clothing. Just be naked all the time, it will probably save you some money,” the criminal replied, supporting Jaehwan so his rather shaky legs didn’t give out while he put on his shirt.

“Also, I think we just made a sex tape,” Sanghyuk continued, feeling oddly giddy at his sudden realization of exactly where they were. “What?!” Jaehwan shouted. It looked like he couldn’t decide whether to burst out laughing or kick the criminal in the stomach. “Yeah, I just remembered, we have security cameras in here.”

“You jackass! How did you forget that earlier?!” Jaehwan asked, apparently deciding to compromise and pout. Sanghyuk shrugged, grinning like an idiot as he twirled his hacker around the kitchen island. “You are _so_ lucky that I can remotely erase the footage,” Jaehwan continued, poking Sanghyuk in the chest. “Make a copy of it for me first,” the criminal said, winking at Jaehwan’s scowl.

“Anyway, I’m still hungry,” the hacker whined, as Sanghyuk sat him back on the same counter he started on. “Probably because you stopped sucking my dick halfway through,” the criminal replied cheekily, ducking into the pantry to avoid the bag of Cheetos Jaehwan chucked at his head. “You _distracted_ me!”

“You also gagged, which I thought was physically impossible with your prestigious dick-sucking skills,” Sanghyuk called, grabbing two packets of ramen and coming back into the kitchen, unable to hide his smile. “Yeah, because you _distracted_ me!” Jaehwan replied. He was now lying horizontally across the counter with his hands folded on his stomach.

Sanghyuk dangled the ramen over his head, chuckling when Jaehwan swiped at it. “Hurry up and feed me before I die!”

**Chapter 21: The Game**   
**Summary:**

**“You can touch him if you want, I don’t mind.”**

  
**Notes:**

**seriously wtf is my problem lol**

_ The Game: _

Sanghyuk woke, his eyelids still heavy with leftover sleep, to find himself alone in his fourposter bed. It had been five days since the altercation, or, Sanghyuk thought it had been five days. He wasn’t totally sure, the time had sort of melted together in one unending stream of sex, food, and tv.

It was cold without Jaehwan’s body curled against his, and the criminal reached blearily out to grab the nearest pillow, hugging it tightly. Where had his hacker gone? Jaehwan had nearly fallen asleep in his plate of chicken last night. Sanghyuk ended up carrying him to bed, and he had passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

There was an odd squeak from the bathroom, and Sanghyuk lifted his head. “Sweetheart?” he called, his voice still gruff from sleep.

The door opened and Jaehwan stuck his head out, grinning in a way that was almost evil. “Finally, you’re awake! I have a s-surprise for you,” he replied, stepping into the room and slowly approaching the bed. Sanghyuk’s jaw dropped.

Jaehwan had on soft looking white knee-high socks, one of Sanghyuk’s sweatshirts, and baby blue briefs that were so tight, the criminal could see the outline of his dick from across the room. His hands were behind his back, and his dark fluffy hair combed so it lay over his forehead in neat waves.

“Am I dreaming? Tell me I’m dreaming so I can wake up and go buy those for you,” Sanghyuk said, as Jaehwan stopped at the foot of the bed. “Not dreaming,” he replied, and the criminal groaned.

“I’ve been up for ages waiting for you, very p-patiently,” he continued, tossing something to the criminal before climbing onto the mattress. “Why do you keep stuttering?” Sanghyuk asked, too enthralled in watching Jaehwan crawl towards him to bother glancing at whatever the hacker had given him.

Jaehwan ignored his question, lying down next to the criminal and propping his head up on his arm before asking one of his own. “What were you dr-dreaming about? You kept moaning my name and saying something about my throat.”

Sanghyuk felt himself blush, and he ducked his head, tracing the waistband of the hacker’s briefs. He _had_ dreamed of Jaehwan, a filthy dream about what he stopped himself from doing yesterday. Jaehwan’s hands tied behind his back as the criminal fucked his throat, tear tracks glistening on his hacker’s cheeks. It made sense that he was still asleep now, in the beginnings of some sequel his imagination had come up with.

“Nothing,” the criminal replied, avoiding Jaehwan’s eyes and pressing his thumb against Jaehwan’s hip bone. The hacker squeaked again but tried to disguise it as a cough. “Anyway, why do you look so cute? I didn’t even know you owned underwear.”

Jaehwan _did_ look cute. So fucking cute it was conjuring very racy images in Sanghyuk’s sleepy brain. This must be how Wonshik saw the hacker, it would explain why his friend was constantly murmuring the word _cute_ every time they were in the same room.

“Of course, I own underwear. I can’t believe you haven’t asked what your surprise is yet,” Jaehwan replied, poking the criminal’s cheek. “Is this not it?” Sanghyuk asked, tracing Jaehwan’s v-line where the sweatshirt had ridden up. “So easily p-pleased,” the hacker said, sounding honestly delighted as he reached behind him.

“ _This_ is the surprise,” he continued, holding a little plastic rectangle in front of the criminal’s nose. Sanghyuk stared blankly at it, nearly forgetting to breathe. “You didn’t,” he mumbled, now absolutely sure he was still dreaming.

“I _did_.”

“You went through my stuff while I was asleep?” the criminal asked, taking the remote from Jaehwan’s hand. It was on, the lowest setting, which would explain the squeaking and the stuttering. He wasn’t even angry, he just needed some time to convince his brain to keep functioning. “I was looking for a sweatshirt and I happened to come across your little black box,” Jaehwan replied innocently. “How could I resist?”

“Naughty,” Sanghyuk murmured absently, pressing the up arrow on the remote. Jaehwan twitched, pressing his lips tightly together and drawing a line down Sanghyuk’s chest with his index finger.

“How long have you been awake, exactly?” the criminal asked, watching Jaehwan’s face intently. “Only like two hou- _ahh_ ,” the hacker started to say. His words cut off abruptly when Sanghyuk pressed the up arrow again.

“And, how long have you been playing with my toys?” Sanghyuk asked, his voice getting lower and his dominant streak taking over before he even knew it was happening. “Not very lon-nngh!” The criminal had pressed it again, and Jaehwan fisted the fabric of Sanghyuk’s pajama shirt, his mouth falling open and legs shifting restlessly.

“So, so, _so_ naughty,” he replied slowly, hitting the up arrow to punctuate each ‘so’. Jaehwan’s breath hitched and he dropped his head, nuzzling Sanghyuk’s neck as he started to pant. “Have you ever used one of these before? Do you know how high it goes? How many different settings there are?”

Jaehwan shook his head, whimpering against Sanghyuk’s jaw as his sock covered feet crossed and uncrossed. The criminal smiled a little to himself, lifting the elastic of Jaehwan’s briefs and letting it snap back down.

“I think you may have gotten yourself into a situation that’s more than you can handle, sweetheart,” Sanghyuk murmured, raising the level again and switching to pulsating mode.

Jaehwan squealed, reaching down to touch himself automatically, but the criminal grabbed his wrist and pinned it behind his back.

“Did you use anything else?”

“Dildo.”

“Where?”

“Shh-shower.”

“Why?”

“Last l-longer, _fuck_!”

Sanghyuk smirked, looking down at Jaehwan squirming against him. “The battery in that can last for five hours, so I don’t think it will have done you much good.”

“ _Shit_ Sanghyukkie, g-go easy,” Jaehwan keened, his eyes squeezed shut, panting fast and loud. The criminal chuckled. He wished he could wake up to this every morning, but he wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. He was going to savor it, make it last. “You did this to yourself, sweetheart. You should know better than start things you can’t finish.”

“Go get me that box you found,” Sanghyuk continued, rolling on to his back and switching the vibrator back to low. It had only been on medium; the hacker was just _that_ sensitive. After a minute of heavy breathing, Jaehwan sat up slowly, giving the criminal a suspicious look as he pushed himself out of bed. “Such a good listener.”

As soon as he hacker disappeared into the closet, Sanghyuk hit the button for high. There was a soft thud, followed by Jaehwan’s high pitched sobs. The criminal counted to ten in his head, before getting up and going over to the closet door. He leaned against the doorframe and looked down at his hacker, lying on the floor in a heap with his hands over his eyes, his whole body shaking.

Abruptly, Sanghyuk turned the vibrator off, kneeling down and rolling Jaehwan onto his back. Ending this too soon would be no fun. “You’re such… a bitch,” the hacker muttered as his breathing slowed. The criminal stroked his hair, pressing soft kisses to Jaehwan’s forehead, his temples, his cheeks.

“If you’re mad now, you’re going to hate me in a minute,” Sanghyuk replied, keeping a hand on Jaehwan’s chest and reaching for the box Jaehwan must have dropped. He flipped open the lid and riffled through it. “I’m hungry, aren’t you?” he continued, grinning when he found what he was searching for.

Jaehwan looked at him blankly, running his fingers along Sanghyuk’s forearm. “Let’s go eat breakfast.” The hacker’s eyes widened when he saw the cock ring in the criminal’s hand, and he squeaked indignantly as Sanghyuk pulled down the front of his briefs and slipped it in place. “This is what you use if you want to last longer.”

“Sanghyukkie, _why_?! What did I ever do to deserve this kind of torture?” Jaehwan whined, letting the criminal pull him to his feet. “Oh please, you get off on denial even more than you do from praise, in case you haven’t noticed,” Sanghyuk replied, peering around his closet for something to wear. He didn’t have any meetings today, just a lot of paperwork and the file to go over, so he grabbed a pair of black jeans and a hoodie.

Jaehwan stared at the criminal as he got dressed, arms crossed and pout at full strength. “So, what then? We’re going to eat, and you’ll fuck me later?”

Sanghyuk turned, dropping the combat boots he was about to put on before he pushed his hacker back against the opposite wall of drawers. Not hard, just to remind Jaehwan who was in charge.

“How did you think this was going to go, sweetheart?” Sanghyuk asked, his voice a bit husky as he stepped into Jaehwan’s personal space. His hands circled the hackers’ hips, and he tilted his head to the side, quite literally watching Jaehwan get turned on.

_‘Thanks for waiting to pin me against the nearest available surface until my boyfriend was gone, jackass!’_

_‘What, you don’t like being manhandled?’_

_‘Not by you.’_

That had been a flat out lie. The hacker adored being manhandled, Sanghyuk thought, remembering back when he pinned Jaehwan against his Porsche on his first day at the mansion. This was better. So much better.

Jaehwan’s pupils dilated, his voluptuous lips parting like he was waiting for a kiss, his breath getting shallow again. “I don’t know,” the hacker replied, voice only the slightest bit sulky. “I guess I thought we’d play a little and then have amazing sex like last night and then go about our day.”

“Mm, is that what you want?” Sanghyuk purred, palming Jaehwan’s crotch over his briefs and feeling the hackers’ cock twitch. “You want me to get you off right now, fast and filthy? Do you want me to eat you out until you scream and then finger you ‘til you’re begging to come?”

The criminal paused, giving Jaehwan a chance to answer, but he didn’t. “ _Or_ ,” Sanghyuk continued, eyeing the hickeys adorning the hackers throat like a necklace, “Do you want to be patient and play with me for a little while longer, and then I’ll fuck your throat and you can ride me reverse cowboy on my office’s antique Persian rug?”

Jaehwan swallowed audibly, his gaze flicking from Sanghyuk’s eyes to his lips and back again. “All of the above?” he breathed, yelping when the criminal reached around and spanked him just hard enough to sting. “Choose, or you get nothing,” Sanghyuk murmured, resisting the very strong urge to use the remote in his pocket. He wouldn’t if Jaehwan didn’t say he could.

After a long pause, Jaehwan slipped his hands into the back pockets of Sanghyuk’s jeans. “I’ll wait,” he replied, clearing his throat a little and pressing himself against the criminal’s front. Sanghyuk grinned, kissing the top of Jaehwan’s head.

“Good, here’s how the game works. We are going to go have breakfast with the others, and then I have to finalize some paperwork and pay the Japan team. You can hang out in my office and play games or tweet or whatever you usually do with your free time. But, as soon as we leave this room, I can use my remote however and whenever I like, and you can’t come until I say so. You can do anything you want to try and get me to let you, and if you don’t like it or you need a break, just say the word ‘red’ and I’ll stop right away.”

“Whatever you say, daddy,” the hacker replied, his sweet voice dripping with extra sugar. “Shit,” Sanghyuk muttered, wishing he could go back in time and never tell Jaehwan about his weakness. “Put some pants on porn star, we have more security footage to erase on the way.”

\---

Sanghyuk was in trouble, and he knew it. He had to get his dominant streak under control before Jaehwan got hurt, but it was just so _easy!_ Jaehwan brought it out in him like nobody else ever had, and the hacker seemed to genuinely enjoy pushing the criminal until he snapped.

They had made it to the dining room with little incident and were now waiting for Hakyeon and Wonshik to get here. It was surprisingly early, considering how late they were up last night, but the criminal had never felt less tired.

Jaehwan had latched himself to Sanghyuk the moment they left the bedroom, either in need of affection or in an attempt to win the criminal over and end the game. Sanghyuk wasn’t sure, but Jaehwan was now sitting sideways on his lap at the head of the table, the vibrator on low.

Sanghyuk had given in a little, lazily kissing his hacker in between sips of coffee, his finger curled through one of the broken belt loops on Jaehwan’s jeans. He had opted to wear the same skintight pair from last week, most likely because they would hide how hard he was.

“Mm let’s go to your office and skip breakfast,” Jaehwan hummed, tugging gently on the hood of the criminal’s sweatshirt. “Not happening sweetheart,” Sanghyuk replied, hitting the _up_ button on the remote hidden in his kangaroo pocket.

Jaehwan flinched, pressing closer to the criminal than he already was as he whimpered, “Daddy _please_?” Lightning quick, Sanghyuk reached up and slapped his cheek, not very hard but enough to get a reaction, before taking Jaehwan’s chin in his hand and looking into his eyes. “No calling me that in public, understand?” he asked, his voice low, commanding.

“Red,” Jaehwan mumbled, wriggling and reaching up to feel his own cheek. Sanghyuk hastily turned the toy off, peering at his hacker as worry flooded him. Jaehwan said he liked it rough, but maybe that was too rough.

“Are you alright, sweetheart? Did I hurt you?” he asked, tilting the hackers head to inspect the damage. His cheek was a little flushed, but nothing more. “No slapping, I don’t like it,” Jaehwan said quietly, his expression one of genuine upset.

Sanghyuk held him tight, pressing kisses to the hacker’s cheeks and murmuring, “I’m sorry sweetheart, I’m sorry,” over and over again. The criminal’s action had been absolutely automatic, no conscious thought went into it at all. For someone who slapped as hard and as often as the hacker did, he really couldn’t take much.

The criminal forced that uncharitable thought from his mind, reminding himself to keep his dominant side in check. _Jaehwan is breakable_ , he repeated in his head, but it wasn’t doing much good. That was exactly why it was so easy to slip up. Jaehwan was fragile, but he submitted to the criminal anyway, and seeing how far he could push people’s boundaries had always been one of Sanghyuk’s favorite games. Both in the bedroom and out of it.

“It’s ok, you can keep going,” Jaehwan replied, once he had been sufficiently smothered in kisses. “Are you sure?” Sanghyuk asked, and he waited for the hacker’s nod before turning the toy back on low.

Jaehwan squirmed a little, pressing his lips to the criminals just as Hakyeon and Wonshik walked in.

“No making out during meals,” the second in command snapped, smacking the back of Sanghyuk’s head in passing before gracefully sinking onto his chair. The doctor approached more slowly, very pointedly not looking at either of them and leaving his normal place open for Jaehwan, like he expected the hacker to get up.

A very interesting idea crossed the criminals mind, one that could simultaneously annoy Hakyeon and give the doctor a taste of what he couldn’t have. He and Jaehwan were already so close that the hacker would probably go along with it.

Sanghyuk put his mouth to Jaehwan’s ear, whispering too quietly for anyone else to hear, “Do you want to go play with Wonshik for a few minutes? Maybe he’ll give you what you want. But no telling about our game.”

As expected, Jaehwan nodded, turning to eye the doctor appraisingly before standing up. He walked around the table a bit unsteadily, looking from his empty chair to Wonshik before deciding to drop right onto the doctor’s lap, straddling him.

“Jesus Christ, are you in heat or something?” Hakyeon asked sharply, addressing the back of Jaehwan’s head. Wonshik’s expression switched from annoyed to surprised to flat out bewildered as Jaehwan smiled, tilting his head down to suck on the doctor’s neck.

Hakyeon huffed in irritation, pouring himself a cup of tea. “Enjoy your threesome, I’ll be in my office,” he snapped, standing and leaving the dining room as quickly as he came in. Part one, complete.

The criminal was half considering doing just that, keeping his hands in his sweatshirt pocket and watching Jaehwan go to work. Wonshik wasn’t touching the hacker, the unavoidable contact from having Jaehwan on his lap aside, and he kept shooting Sanghyuk nervous glances. The criminal just smirked. The best thing about the toy Jaehwan’s had chosen was that it was completely silent, and if you weren’t touching the toy itself, you couldn’t feel the vibrations at all. Discrete and powerful, Wonshik would have no clue.

Using the fact that Wonshik was an easy target to his advantage, Jaehwan nipped at the doctor’s bottom lip, his tongue darting out to lick the top one like a kitten. Wonshik’s mouth opened automatically, and the hacker kissed him at once, pressing the doctor against the backrest.

Wonshik was gripping the underside of his chair, clearly trying not to enjoy himself and looking anxiously at the criminal every time Jaehwan gave him a chance to breathe. Sanghyuk watched, giddy, picking up a piece of toast and taking a bite before hitting the _up_ button on the remote.

Jaehwan whimpered in response, his hands tangling in Wonshik’s hair as he started to grind against the doctor’s crotch. Wonshik tipped his head back, breaking their kiss and panting a little as the hacker sucked a dark red mark onto his throat. “Why?” he asked, breathless, glancing from the top of Jaehwan’s head to Sanghyuk.

“For entertainment,” the criminal replied easily, hitting the _up_ button again. “You can touch him if you want, I don’t mind,” he added, when Jaehwan started to squirm more urgently.

Apparently realizing that it was pointless to keep trying to hold himself back, the doctor wrapped his arms around the hacker’s waist and kissed him deeply. Jaehwan whined against Wonshik’s lips as Sanghyuk took a sip of coffee, switching the toy to pulsating mode.

This breakfast was turning out to be more amusing than Sanghyuk had first anticipated. He loved Jaehwan, adored him, and he adored knowing that _he_ was the one doing this to the hacker, no matter whose lap Jaehwan was currently on. Jaehwan was making those noises for _him_.

The criminal wondered just how far Jaehwan was going to take this. Wonshik and the hacker were already physically intimate to a minor degree, what with their habit for almost constant casual touching. Wonshik was undeniably good looking, and it wasn’t a stretch to imagine their friendship going a little further than mere cordiality. That was why it made the criminal so _unbelievably_ jealous every time he saw them together. But not now. This was for _him_ , and at the moment, Sanghyuk was content to watch and eat.

The little remote in his hand once more, Sanghyuk hit a button to make the pulses slower, which he knew from experience only made it more intense. “ _Sanghyukkie_ … can I p-please?” Jaehwan moaned, clinging to Wonshik like a koala and turning his head, letting the doctor trail his lips up the column of his neck. He was looking at the criminal with huge puppy dog eyes, and Sanghyuk only barely stopped himself from giving in.

“No, but you can do other things if you want,” the criminal replied, nodding pointedly downward before taking a bite of toast. Wonshik nipped at the sensitive spot under Jaehwan’s ear, and the hacker’s eyelids fluttered, whining softly.

It seemed to take Jaehwan a second to process Sanghyuk’s words, but when he did, he worked quickly. He kissed Wonshik one more time, tugged sharply on the doctor’s hair, and then slid backward so he was on his knees on the floor.

The doctor’s eyes were a little out of focus, but he gave the criminal an uncertain look. Sanghyuk winked, pleased at the thought of watching Jaehwan warm up for what they would do later. Wonshik didn’t know what kind of treat he was in for. Sanghyuk had never met anyone who enjoyed giving head as much as his hacker, Jaehwan could probably get himself off from that and nothing else. This was a little reward for playing the game so well.

Sanghyuk and Wonshik had fooled around only once before, just some drunken petting and sloppy kisses after his first boyfriend had…

_‘Not now’_ , Sanghyuk thought, forcing his mind off that particularly dangerous track. _‘Don’t spoil this now.’_

Jaehwan had unfastened the doctor’s belt and was now methodically opening up his jeans, panting and whimpering as the criminal switched the vibrators pulse pattern back to the quicker setting. “If you want him to stop, tell him so,” Sanghyuk said, his tone flat. Wonshik shot him a very dirty look, but kept his mouth shut.

Because of their prior experience, the doctor’s size wasn’t a surprise to the criminal, but it seemed to catch Jaehwan off guard. Sanghyuk and Wonshik were relatively equal in that department, definitely larger than average. Rather than being intimidated, Jaehwan grinned, delighted.

The hacker licked his lips once, before running his tongue all the way from the base to the tip. “Oh _shit_ ,” Wonshik breathed, unable to tear his eyes away as Jaehwan began so suck him off properly.

Watching Jaehwan suck cock was better than the best porno Sanghyuk had ever seen. It was like something you would see if you watched a how-to video titled _‘Fellatio: How to Do it Perfectly’._ Despite being very distracted, the hacker had his gag reflex under control and was showing off, deepthroating the doctors’ cock almost immediately. Sanghyuk was very satisfied to know that even the best remote-controlled vibrator on the market couldn’t throw Jaehwan off the way _he_ could.

“Fuck Jae, your fucking mouth is so... _Jesus_ ,” the doctor murmured, his words cutting off when Jaehwan began to moan, no doubt sending all sorts of tingly feelings through his body.

Sanghyuk smirked, his toast forgotten and the coffee cup hovering half way to his mouth. He was turned on, obviously, but he resisted the urge to steal Jaehwan back. If he did that, his hacker would probably get all pouty again.

Jaehwan wasn’t using hands, another sign that he was showing off, and Wonshik’s breathing faltered when the hacker did that insane swallow trick. “He likes compliments,” Sanghyuk said helpfully, and Jaehwan hummed in agreement. Praise began pouring from the doctor’s mouth, soft and low, and the hacker sped up in response.

Seeing Jaehwan’s beautiful lips wrapped around someone else wasn’t nearly as infuriating as Sanghyuk first thought it would be. His hacker was putting on a show for _him_ , undoubtedly in hopes that the criminal would end the game, and it was starting to work.

“God, baby you look so p-pretty like that,” Wonshik said, stuttering. Jaehwan did something to the doctor that Sanghyuk couldn’t see, but it prompted Wonshik to weave his fingers through Jaehwan’s hair and groan. The criminal didn’t particularly care for the use of that pet name, but he let it slide.

Barely five minutes after that, the hacker finished Wonshik off. Sanghyuk turned the vibrator down a little, hopefully reminding Jaehwan not to skip this part, his _favorite_ part.

The hacker glanced mischievously at the criminal. He turned back to the doctor and opened his mouth, showing him the come pooled on his tongue, before closing his mouth and swallowing audibly. Sanghyuk got chills, and Wonshik blinked rapidly as Jaehwan licked his lips and zipped the doctor’s pants back up.

“Come here, sweetheart,” the criminal murmured, speaking just in time to stop Jaehwan from kissing Wonshik again. Their lips were less than an inch apart, but the hacker turned and looked at Sanghyuk for a few seconds. He pulled away from the doctor, a smile playing across his somewhat swollen mouth as he walked back around the table.

Sanghyuk hands circled Jaehwan’s slim hips, grinning at the thought that his friend would _never_ experience the feeling of his hacker’s fantastic mouth again. He wasn’t in the mood for a threesome right now, and even if he was, he’d want it with Hakyeon not Wonshik. Hakyeon wouldn’t be as easy as the doctor, he’d make Jaehwan actually work for it.

“Good job sweetheart, how would you like your reward?” the criminal asked, squeezing the hacker a little as he nodded hastily. “You earned it,” Sanghyuk purred, standing and draping an arm over Jaehwan’s shoulders.

He took his mug of coffee with him, turning around for a second to wink at the doctor. Wonshik was staring blankly at Jaehwan’s back, and he didn’t move a muscle as the criminal and the hacker left the dining room together.

**Chapter 22: The Aftermath**   
**Summary:**

**When ever he pictured Jaehwan in that sort of scenario, the few times he allowed himself too, he’d conjured up an image of someone much more wholesome. Delightfully naïve and adorably modest.**   
**Notes:**

***THERE IS A TINY MENTION OF A PAST SUI ATTEMPT, NOT MORE THAN LIKE FIVE LINES AND NO GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION, BUT IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO THOSE SORTS OF THINGS, READ AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION***

_ The Aftermath: _

Wonshik was still sitting at the breakfast table, too stunned to move.

His brain was in turmoil, too many images flicking past his mind’s eye as he tried to figure out what the fuck had just happened. Jaehwan on Sanghyuk’s lap. Jaehwan on his lap. Jaehwan on his knees. Sanghyuk winking. Jaehwan leaving. What the hell was he supposed to do now?!

Hakyeon had said _‘Enjoy your threesome’_ , but that wasn’t what had happened. Jaehwan had given him a… that, and Sanghyuk had watched. Encouraged it, even. Prompted it. The overwhelming question for the doctor was _why?_ Sanghyuk didn’t like to share! Actually, he hated it! He’d always hated it, no matter if it was his friends or his possessions! And Jaehwan didn’t like the doctor that way! Sure, the hacker had kissed him, once, _briefly_. But he had been tipsy, which was why Wonshik never allowed himself to think about his advances before the kiss happened.

_‘But’_ , a nagging little voice in the darkest corner of his mind whispered. _‘He’s your boy with lace covered eyes. You’ve been halfway to in love with him for more than two years.’_ With a great deal of effort, Wonshik shut the voice up.

The entire thing seemed like a dream. A weird, stomach-churning, preposterous dream that he never wanted to wake from. It hadn’t lasted for more than twenty minutes, or, the doctor didn’t think so. Jaehwan had been on him almost the moment he sat down, wrapped around him more tightly than that night they had cuddled in Wonshik’s bed. After the plan had failed.

It reminded Wonshik forcibly of the morning he had woken Jaehwan from his unconscious state, when the hacker had called Sanghyuk a murder and crawled into his lap, attaching himself to Wonshik so securely that it had been hard to breath. But this time, Jaehwan had been moaning instead of crying, and it had been hard to breathe for a completely different reason.

Their first kiss had been so sweet, even a bit innocent. It was full of care and affection, no matter if it had been just the kind of affection shared between two friends. This had been so different. In truth, Wonshik hadn’t really understood how Jaehwan and Sanghyuk worked so well together. He’d guessed that the criminal wasn’t keeping Jaehwan around because he liked having virtuous, wide-eyed lover, but the hacker had behaved completely opposite to how Wonshik imagined he would.

When ever he pictured Jaehwan in that sort of scenario, the few times he allowed himself too, he’d conjured up an image of someone much more wholesome. Delightfully naïve and adorably modest. He’d imagined Jaehwan squirming a little as Wonshik undressed him, relaxing into soft touches and soothing words. The Jaehwan of his fantasy would let him take the lead, and Wonshik would be so gentle, careful not to hurt him. He’d go slow, murmuring praise and reassurance of how good the hacker was, how beautiful, until Jaehwan came undone. A wriggling tangle of long limbs, the tips of his pointy ears as flushed as his cheek’s, sobbing Wonshik’s name as the doctor comforted him, decorating his collarbones with fluttering kisses.

Never, not once, had he pictured Jaehwan the way he just acted. Frantic and impatient. Very much in charge and ready to do whatever it took to get what he wanted. His hands pulling Wonshik’s hair, those incredibly plush lips moving against his, the way his body had rocked, communicating without words exactly was he was asking for. Wonshik had managed, still unsure of how he’d done it, to control himself in the beginning. On top of all the other ways he had betrayed Sanghyuk, he wasn’t about to get handsy with his fuck buddy right in front of him. But then, Sanghyuk said he could, and he had given in to the whiny temptation on his lap without a second thought.

That wasn’t to say he didn’t enjoy it. He most definitely had. For one thing, the doctor was positive than no blowjob he had ever received or ever would receive in the future could measure up to the one Jaehwan had just given him. It had been pure fucking _art_. Holding Jaehwan was not a new sensation for Wonshik, but being allowed to touch him, kiss him the way he’d wanted too for what felt like eons, had been magical. The only problem had been Sanghyuk.

Sanghyuk had sat there the entire time, watching and eating like he was at fucking dinner theater. And he had _talked_. Commenting every now and then in such a smug tone that it made Wonshik want to punch him, and the doctor almost never wanted to punch anybody. Jaehwan had asked the criminal for something, but he hadn’t said what it was, and the doctor had been too enchanted by the hacker to try and puzzle it out.

That’s when the situation had changed from kissing to... _more_. And after it was all over, Sanghyuk had ruined it. Jaehwan had been about to kiss the doctor again, which Wonshik wanted so incredibly badly, but the criminal had stopped the whole thing and taken Jaehwan away. It was as though the hacker had done it just to entertain Sanghyuk, like Wonshik could have been anyone and it wouldn’t have mattered.

Wonshik let his head drop against the backrest of his chair, staring past the ceiling into black nothingness. Jaehwan’s tongue barely brushing the doctor’s top lip, his chocolate brown eyes sparkling with something like a mix of desire and mischief. That hadn’t been the cute and innocent Jaehwan of his fantasies. That was the boy with the lace covered eyes.

The hacker had the same near manic energy rolling off him as he did when Wonshik caught him during the break-in. The boy with lace covered eyes had handled Wonshik almost the same way, getting into his space and overwhelming him with such intense longing that he had lost focus. Lost control of the situation. _That_ boy probably wouldn’t have hesitated to put on a show for his boyfriend, regardless of who else was watching.

Reminiscing clearly wasn’t getting Wonshik anywhere. He needed to actually talk to someone, and his first choice would normally be Sanghyuk, but that was not an option in this case. It would have to be Hakyeon.

After sitting at the table for another minute to gather his strength, the doctor stood and made his way to the second in commands office. He hadn’t eaten anything, but it wasn’t like he still had an appetite after what just happened. He had to walk past Sanghyuk’s office on the way, and he sent a prayer of thanks to whatever god convinced had the criminal to soundproof the large room.

“Hakyeon?” Wonshik called, knocking on his door. The office was the next room over from Sanghyuk’s, not quite as big but just as lavishly decorate. It suited Hakyeon. He heard the second in commands voice reply, “Come in,” so he took a deep breath and entered.

“Oh, it’s you. I thought you were in there with them,” Hakyeon said, gesturing to the wall connecting his and Sanghyuk’s offices. Wonshik had frozen in the doorway, his ears filled with the sound of Jaehwan’s high pitched sobs. It took him a minute to realize that it was coming from Hakyeon’s window, thrown wide open and letting crisp air flow in.

“Can you- can you shut that, please?” the doctor asked, very carefully forming each word as it left his mouth. Hakyeon nodded, sliding the glass panel down and latching it, but not before Wonshik heard the hacker whimper, _“Harder daddy, harder.”_

The doctor winced, immeasurably grateful when the noise cut off. “Sorry. It’s so hot in here, I needed some fresh air,” Hakyeon murmured, ushering Wonshik over to his desk and taking a seat. Only then did Wonshik notice the heat. It was substantially warmer than normal in the mansion and had been for a few days. How could he have missed that before? “Hyoggie jacked up the furnace for Jaehwan. It’s still not as bad as his apartment though, that was like actually sitting in hell.”

“I need to talk to you about something,” Wonshik said quietly, too preoccupied to reason through the second in commands words. “Does it have anything to do with the hickey on your neck?” Hakyeon asked, folding his hands in his lap and eyeing the doctor intently.

“Yeah,” Wonshik replied, unsure of how to begin explaining. Hakyeon waited silently until the doctor blurted, “Sanghyuk just watched Jaehwan give me head!”

“Good for you?” the second in command replied, not seeming at all surprised as he continued, “Is that a bad thing? I thought you had a thing for the nerd.”

“I do, I guess, but I wasn’t ready for it and it was- it was so weird!” Wonshik said. That much was very true, it had been a weird morning. “Was he bad at it? He looks way to pure to be any good.”

Wonshik inhaled and then exhaled. “No, it was hands down the best blowjob I’ve ever gotten. And he’s obviously not as pure as I thought, considering... that,” the doctor replied, gesturing at the now closed window.

Hakyeon sighed contemplatively, glancing at the shared wall as he said, “I don’t know why I even believed that in the first place. He dated Seokjin for ages, and trust me, he’s no angel. And that gamer of his doesn’t seem like the type to shy away from a daddy kink. I guess it was just because he looks so young.”

Wonshik flinched. He was having enough trouble coming to grips with this new version of Jaehwan, he didn’t want to begin to think about the hackers past relationships. “It was just _way_ different then I thought it would be. I thought he would be all sweet and shy, but he was just straight up raunchy,” the doctor replied, taking another deep breath before he continued, “It didn’t even feel real, you know? Like he was preforming for Sanghyuk or something.”

Hakyeon’s contemplative expression changed to one that was almost pitying. “I think that’s exactly what he was doing. Didn’t you seen Hyoggie whisper to him before he jumped on you?” the second in command asked, and Wonshik’s heart stuttered. “No, I didn’t. Why would Hyuk ask Jae to do it with me and not you? He’s basically indifferent to me, but he’s very much into you. Wouldn’t that be more fun for him?”

Sighing again, Hakyeon leaned forward and propped his head on his hand. “Well, for one thing, he knows how you feel about Jae. The thought of watching him do that to you, when you can’t have him for real, probably triggered Hyoggie’s irritating dominance thing. He’s always been a little twisted that way. And for another, I wouldn’t have let Jaehwan suck me off at the breakfast table like that, for multiple reasons, but the main being that I’m not as easy to fluster as you.”

Wonshik stayed quiet for a few moments, the second in command patiently letting his words sink in. That was probably true, Hakyeon was never phased by anything and Wonshik was just the opposite. He was easy. “At first, I thought my crush on him was just one of those things... like fuck and then get over it, you know?” the doctor asked, and Hakyeon nodded.

“But- I mean we didn’t actually have sex, but it was close enough, and if anything, it’s worse now. I get that it wasn’t real, that it was just some kind of sick game, but at the same time... I don’t know. It wasn’t the cute Jaehwan that I’ve gotten to know so personally, it was the other one.”

“Other one?” Hakyeon asked, his gaze sharpening. “Yeah the _other_ one. The one that seduced a gun out of my hand in about two seconds and then hit me over the head with it. The tricky one. The dangerous one. The one that knows how to play.”

\---

**You:**

_‘I need to ask you a few questions before I make my final decision.’_

**Magical thief:**

_‘Good morning to you too, Dr. Kim.’_

_‘You really don’t have much choice at this point, but I’ll humor you. What is it?’_

_‘Tell me everything you know about Jaehwan. You must know a lot if you’ve been Hongbin’s friend since childhood.’_

_‘I know more about him than I’d care too. What things specifically?’_

_‘What is he like. How does he act with Hongbin and Seokjin, does he behave differently depending on who he’s around? How does he act towards you?’_

_‘This is going to take a minute to type out so hang on.’_

_‘Ok so going in order, he acts like a whiney baby with Hongbin. I’ve known Jaehwan since the very beginning of their relationship, and he loves being pampered. He’s exactly the type of person Hongbin has always wanted to be with, someone who needs to be taken care of.’_

_‘Hongbin doesn’t let him drink or smoke or party or do anything fun, despite the fact that he himself regularly goes out and makes questionable decisions. Hongbin likes Jae to stay at home because he thinks it keeps him safe, like everything else in the world is after him, a threat, and he’s only truly alright when Hongbin is with him. And honestly, Jaehwan has never minded until he met your boss. From what I could tell, he actually kind of liked it.’_

_‘Onto the next, how he is with Seokjin. Theirs’s is basically the polar opposite of his relationship with Hongbin. Seokjin is a bit... wild, to put it mildly, and when Hongbin does let them see each other, Seokjin always convinces Jae to do something stupid. Like hack the dmv and make fake ID’s for Jaehwan’s stuffed animals, or street race their supercars straight through down town.’_

_‘Jaehwan doesn’t like being babied by Seokjin, and their friendship is a bit weird if I’m honest. Jaehwan has every right to hate him, and should have hated him a long time ago, but their mutual dislike seems to be the glue that keeps them together. Seokjin slept around on him a bunch while they were dating, but he also saved Jae’s life when he tried to kill himself, so it balances out? I guess?’_

_‘Hold the fuck on’_

_‘Jaehwan tried to take his own life?’_

_‘Yeah. I guess when he turned 18 and moved out, he stopped doing all treatments for his condition, including going off his antidepressants without telling anyone. He just got too upset once night and tried, I don’t know how, but he called Seokjin right before hand and he got home in time to save Jae.’_

_‘Oh shit.’_

_‘Yeah, I know. They broke up not long after that, and then Jae met Hongbin. That’s when I met him too.’_

_‘What was he like back then?’_

_‘Well, he was a lot different than he is now, that’s for sure.’_

_‘You know how he dresses all fancy and flaunts his money, puts that act on when really, he just runs around in PJ’s all day?’_

_‘Yeah I’m familiar with it.’_

_‘Well, he used to be a bit goth, or grunge, idk what you call it. Always in black with his black hair and smoky makeup. He used to have his eyebrow pierced too, but it took it out years ago. Hongbin has always dressed like he does now, had his hair long and shit, so they looked good together, their aesthetics matched. But Jae was so sick when I first met him, like he was so thin that I thought he was heroin addict or something. He never ate anything, I mean anything, unless Kong convinced him too, and even then, it wasn’t a lot. His body was too weak to handle much.’_

_‘Kong also got him to start taking a good portion of his meds again, god only knows how, and has personally picked them up from Jae’s pharmacy for the past three years. Jae was kind of mean back then, always snapping at people and shouting back and forth with Seokjin until he passed out, but Kong took care of him. He acted like it was his personal mission in life to save Jaehwan, and Jaehwan melted for him. He still does.’_

_‘What happened when he went to see Hongbin in the hospital? Hakyeon said you and Seokjin were there, but he wouldn’t give me any other details.’_

_‘Same old routine. Hongbin sweettalked Jaehwan into his bed and admitted the whole thing was his fault, but Jae wasn’t even mad at him. And he really should have been.’_

_‘And why did he come with you when you broke in here two years ago? I’ve seen him do his magic remotely, he clearly didn’t need too.’_

_‘Uhh, he asked if he could. Since he helped us for free, I wasn’t going to refuse, and he ended up being pretty useful. I’m surprised you recognized him, was it the hair?’_

_‘Yeah, the hair. But why though? Why did he want to go? Did he say?’_

_‘No, he didn’t, but I know. You may have heard Seokjin call him an adrenaline junkie, he says it commonly enough, and that’s what he is. He’s always trying to push the boundaries on what he should be doing because he loves the rush. It makes him feel alive, and since he’s already dying, he doesn’t see the risk as an issue. It’s partially why Hongbin keeps such a close eye on him.’_

_‘You know a lot for someone who doesn’t seem to like him very much.’_

_‘It’s not that I don’t like him. He’s genuinely kind, overly charming when he wants to be, and he’s incredibly intelligent. It’s hard to dislike a person like that. I just have trouble trusting him. Hongbin is my oldest friend, and as soon as Jaehwan came into the picture, I made it my business to know as much about him as I could. To protect Hongbin.’_

_‘You sound like you’re describing Sanghyuk.’_

_‘Why don’t you trust him?’_

_‘Not because he’s ever done anything wrong, I just get a feeling sometimes. Like one day, he might decide to take a risk that’s too big for him to handle and not think through how it will impact those around him. Right now, with your boss, for example. He has a tendency to hurt people without meaning too. And he’s never been good at either expressing or dealing with his own emotions and gets frustrated when others do.’_

_‘I can’t really argue with that. What do you know, if anything, about his life pre-Hongbin?’_

_‘Not much, but I know the basics. His family is well off, overbearing parents that spoiled the shit out of him. Pretty much exactly what one would expect, judging by the adult he’s grown into. I don’t know if he’s told you, but he broke into a bank when he was 17. A really, really big bank. And he didn’t take anything, just weaved the phrase ‘gotcha losers’ throughout the banks security code stuff. That’s his signature, he uses it all the time. It’s how he got famous in the tech circle, but he was working for the government when he and Hongbin met. Kong hired him to set up a private server, and they just hit it off, I guess,’_

_‘Why are you asking me all of these seemingly pointless questions, Dr. Kim? What prompted them, did something happen?’_

_‘No.’_

_‘Don’t lie to me.’_

_‘Jaehwan just... He’s acting differently than I’m used to this morning, and it made me curious.’_

_‘Different how?’_

_‘I don’t know. Normally he’s sweet and playful, when he’s not shouting, but this morning he got all weird. Almost cruel.’_

_‘Did he do something to you?’_

_‘I guess, but that’s not the point. I adore him when he’s being cute, but it was like he enjoyed using me.’_

_‘You’re being irritatingly vague but let me ask you this. What was in it for him? What did he gain from it, whatever it was?’_

_‘Approval, I guess? And to make Sanghyuk happy?’_

_‘Well, there you have it. He has the biggest praise kink I’ve ever seen.’_

_‘There is very rarely any middle ground for Jaehwan. No grey areas. If he wants something, he ‘needs’ it, and if he dislikes something, he ‘hates’ it. Whatever he did, it was most likely because he wanted something from you or your boss, and he did whatever it was to try and get it. Just circling back to the ‘hurts people without realizing it’ thing. And if nothing else, being showered in compliments would probably be enough.’_

_‘Yeah, I found out about the praise thing. But I have no idea what he possibly could have wanted! Sanghyuk gives him literally everything.’_

_‘Maybe if you told me what he did…’_

_‘No. you’ll just tell Hongbin on me and then I’ll be extra dead. Thanks for the info though, it doesn’t really make my choice any easier but it’s still god for me to know.’_

_‘Not a problem Dr. Kim. Let me know if I can ease your burden any further.’_

**Chapter 23: The Flirtation**   
**Summary:**

**'I wouldn’t let you within three feet of my dick with the way you behave'**

_ The Flirtation: _

“Put some clothes on, we need to talk,” Hakyeon said sharply, walking right into Sanghyuk’s office and slamming the door behind him.

The second in command had waited for ten minutes after the noises next door had stopped, to give Jaehwan and his friend sufficient time to make themselves decent, but he’d had enough.

“We do have clothes on, grumpy face,” the hacker replied from Hakyeon’s left. He was lying across Sanghyuk’s lap, playing on his phone while the boss looked through a large stack of papers on the coffee table. At least Sanghyuk was working for a change.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Hakyeon snapped, glaring at the other two. “Why did you do that to Wonshik?! Were you trying to hurt him on purpose?”

Both boys looked... _unimpressed_ was the word for it. “He’s got a world-class blowjob from his boy crush, why would he be hurt?” Sanghyuk asked, making Jaehwan blush. “It was probably the best day of his life,” the criminal continued, stroking the hacker’s hair.

“Why? Just tell me why you did it,” Hakyeon exclaimed, glaring at the hacker with all his considerable force. “I told him already, for entertainment,” Sanghyuk replied, starting to sound bored as he returned his attention to the paper he’d been reading.

The second in command was getting seriously pissed off. “Why did you do it, Jaehwan? Why did you have to fuck with him like that?! You must know how he feels!”

Jaehwan blinked rapidly and looked away. “I was in the mood,” he muttered, playing with one of the strings on Sanghyuk’s hoodie. “I was in the mood, and he’s very good looking, and Sanghyukkie asked if I wanted too, so I thought... why not?”

“We were playing a little game, Hyung. You’re not unfamiliar with the circumstances of that kind of game, he did it for _me_ so he could win,” the criminal said, shooting a pointed look at Hakyeon’s crotch before returning his attention to his work.

The second in command understood it then, the game. He had indeed played that game and knew exactly how withholding Sanghyuk was during the course of it. That in no way made what they did to Wonshik okay, but at least it made more sense now.

“I don’t give a shit if you were playing that stupid game or not, you had no right to bring Wonshik into it. It was just cruel!” Hakyeon replied angrily, hands on hips.

“It’s not like we haven’t kissed before, and it’s not like he hasn’t probably been dreaming about it. What’s your problem? Are you mad that we didn’t play with you instead?” Jaehwan asked, his tone getting more taunting with each word he spoke.

“I wouldn’t let you within three feet of my dick with the way you behave. I don’t give a shit how good you are, your personality ruins it, so try another deflection tactic,” Hakyeon replied hotly, before he had actually processed Jaehwan’s words.

Sanghyuk’s eyes stopped moving, no longer tracking across the paper in his hand, but staring emptily at it as they narrowed. “When,” he said, a statement more than a question. Hakyeon was extremely curious about that too.

The criminals’ hand was frozen, fingers still woven through the hacker’s hair. “A couple weeks ago. He said something about you being my boyfriend, which you aren’t. I told him so and then later I kissed him. I was just thanking him, it’s not a big deal,” Jaehwan replied, the easiness of his words very obviously forced.

Hakyeon was about to snap something harsh, like ‘why do you need to kiss people to say thank you, why can’t you just fucking say thank you like a normal human being’, but he stopped himself when he noticed the look on Sanghyuk’s face. It was cold, _oh so cold_ , an expression the second in command was very familiar with.

One time when they were kids, the criminal couldn’t have been more than eight or nine years old, a diplomat had been meeting with Sanghyuk’s uncle and brought his son along. The boy had been a complete brat, an unpleasant child if Hakyeon had ever met one, but he kept an eye on him as he was told. He, Sanghyuk, and the boy had all been eating lunch, and the boy had thrown a tantrum because he didn’t like his food, before trying to take Sanghyuk’s pizza right off the young criminal’s plate.

Sanghyuk had gone ridged, watching the boy eat his lunch, before taking his fork and calmly stabbing it through the back of the boy’s hand. After Hakyeon and the young criminal had both been scolded and the diplomat’s son had left, Hakyeon asked why he did it. Sanghyuk had rolled his eyes, as if it were obvious, before replying, _‘it was an object lesson. Nobody takes what’s mine.’_ Right now, the criminal had the same exact look as he had when he watched that boy eat his food.

“Hyoggie, breathe,” Hakyeon said, tentatively putting a hand on the criminal’s shoulder. Sanghyuk ignored him, not moving a muscle as he asked, “When exactly did you decide to _thank_ him?”

“When I stayed in his room after he shouted at you for letting me drive that one time,” Jaehwan replied, not making eye contact with anyone and continuing to mess with the drawstring on Sanghyuk’s sweatshirt.

“And _what_ exactly did you want to thank him for?” Sanghyuk asked, and Hakyeon saw his fingers tighten around the paper. Jaehwan seemed to finally sense the danger of the situation, and he quickly sat up. “Sanghyukkie, it was nothing,” he replied, peering anxiously into the criminal’s face.

Jaehwan may be a genius when it comes to computers, but he had absolutely no clue how to deal with people’s feelings. “ _Nothing_? It was nothing?” Sanghyuk asked, crushing the paper in his fist. “Let’s go for a walk, just you and me,” Hakyeon said a bit loudly, gently taking the crumpled document from his friend and tugging on his hand.

“We had a date that night, if I’m not mistaken,” Sanghyuk hissed, ignoring the second in command entirely and turning to glare at the hacker. “We had a date, and then after that, you went and decided to play around with someone else and sleep in his bed. If I’m remembering correctly, you didn’t even argue when he dragged you off.”

“I did argue a little, but it’s just _Wonshik_! And it’s not like I hadn’t stayed in his room before!” Jaehwan replied, somehow managing to make it worse. “Stop talking,” Hakyeon snapped, tugging on Sanghyuk’s hand more urgently as he continued, “Hyoggie, come on. We’ll go cool off and get some fresh air.”

Sanghyuk didn’t reply, his mouth was a hard line and he was staring coldly at the hacker. Jaehwan shot Hakyeon a look, but he began petting the criminal’s hair as he said, “Sanghyukkie, it really was nothing, but you aren’t my boyfriend, remember? You don’t need to get so angry.”

If Hakyeon could have slapped some sense into Jaehwan without angering Sanghyuk, he would have. “Seriously, be quiet,” the second in command said sharply, pushing the hacker’s hand aside and turning Sanghyuk’s face towards him.

“Hyoggie, he’s talking nonsense, don’t let yourself get all worked up. It’s not worth it,” Hakyeon continued, making his voice as soothing as possible. “Come with me, ok? Let’s walk.”

After several seconds of silence, Sanghyuk nodded. He nudged Jaehwan away, surprisingly gently in Hakyeon’s opinion, and stood up. The second in command wrapped an arm around his friend’s waist in an attempt to keep him grounded, Sanghyuk draping his arm over Hakyeon’s shoulder as they walked out of the office.

They made their way slowly out to the garden, purposefully avoiding the medical ward on the way, Sanghyuk’s arm around him a bit tighter than usual. Once they were among the roses, the criminal spoke. “He really has no understanding of how hurtful he can be, does he?”

Hakyeon sighed, resting his head on the criminal’s shoulder. “No, he doesn’t,” the second in command replied. “He doesn’t understand how his actions impact other people. And he’s too physically affectionate for his own good.”

Sanghyuk’s expression was unreadable, but he nodded. “Wonshik should know better than to try and take what’s _mine_ ,” he murmured, slowing his steps to look at the flowers. “Hyoggie, Jaehwan said it himself. You aren’t his boyfriend, he’s not yours.”

“But he is!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, stopping all together and glancing down at the second in command. “He only fucked with Wonshik because I said he could! He melts for me as much as he ever did for Hongbin, Hyung, you should have seen how he woke me up this morning.”

“It doesn’t matter if he melts for you or not, Hyoggie, that doesn’t make a person yours. Just because he’s submissive for you and you two sleep together, it doesn’t mean you’re together.” Sanghyuk didn’t seem either impressed or convinced by Hakyeon’s words.

“He doesn’t just have sex with me Hyung, if that was all it was, it would be totally different. He sleeps in my bed and eats every meal with me, he kisses me like he loves me and holds my hand. How the hell am I supposed to act? We have everything a relationship does, aside from the title.”

“Sanghyuk, I know you think you love him, but- “

“I don’t _think_ I love him, Hyung, I _do_ love him.”

Hakyeon was at a loss. He didn’t know how to change the criminal’s mind. “Listen, it’s going to be easier when he moves into his new place, okay? Then, you won’t have to see him 24/7 and you can have some space. If you still feel the same way after some time apart, then why don’t you ask him out properly?”

“I literally said those words already! Before our first date I told him that I wanted to take him out properly, and he said yes! But it clearly meant nothing to him so how else am I supposed to ask?” Sanghyuk exclaimed, as they resumed walking around the garden. “I don’t know, Hyoggie, maybe sit him down and try and have a conversation about it.”

The criminal sighed, looking up at the sky before he changed the subject. “How’s your search for our traitor coming? Do you have anything to report?”

“Uh, yeah… a little but nothing concrete,” Hakyeon replied, trying to figure out how to say his next words without making the criminal more upset then he already was. “I personally reviewed the security footage from the last few weeks, trying to pinpoint exactly when Hongbin got in. He isn’t on any of it, but I did find something odd.”

Sanghyuk was silent, waiting for the second in command to continue. “The night you and Jaehwan got reported in the tabloids, I saw him leaving Wonshik’s room about an hour after he and the doctor went in. I followed him from camera to camera until he reached the rose garden and went down the path, but there’s a blind spot by the fence, and I lost track of him for like 20 minutes. When he reappeared, he was wearing that scarlet coat and looked really dazed, like out of it, and he stopped and stared at himself in one of the hall mirrors for a while before returning to Wonshik’s bedroom.”

“He didn’t leave again until the next morning, and he and Wonshik were already dressed when they went to breakfast. I couldn’t figure out how he got himself dressed without going to his room, but I guess he must be keeping clothes in Wonshik’s bedroom too, not just yours. Although, when he went out to the rose garden, he did have on pajamas that were way too big to be his, so maybe he borrowed the doctors’ clothes as well.”

Hakyeon risked a glance at his friend and winced. “So… you’re saying…” Sanghyuk replied in almost a whisper. “You’re saying that the night of Jae and my first date… he slept in Wonshik’s room as well as presumably fucking Hongbin out here?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s what I’m saying. Yes.”

“Why the fuck is he torturing me like this?!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, letting Hakyeon go and whirling to glare at the mansion. “I don’t know, Hyoggie, but I honestly think you two need some time apart. I get that it sucks, but he’s obviously still very attached to his ex and I don’t think he’s ready to give you the kind of relationship you want. He’s not good for you.”

\---

Jaehwan was completely taken aback.

He was still sitting on the couch in Sanghyuk’s office, all alone now that the criminal and his second had walked out on him. How was he possibly at fault for this?! He hadn’t made any commitment to Sanghyuk, nor to anyone else! The criminal had absolutely no right to be as angry as he was!

The hacker was actually getting a bit angry himself. Why was Sanghyuk incapable of controlling his emotions like a fucking adult?! Jaehwan wasn’t in the mood for this mess, and he was even less in the mood to deal with his clingy doctor, but he figured that he might as well go try and take care of it before the whole situation got out of hand. He had genuinely enjoyed breakfast, not least because Wonshik had been so sweet with him as always. He wished Sanghyuk hadn’t intervened and let them kiss some more after the main show was done.

He groaned out loud, even though there was nobody around to hear it, and ruffled his own hair. The hacker stood up and made his slow way down the medical ward. He was still dressed pretty cutely, unfortunately. He hadn’t changed after this morning’s various _incidents_ , which was slightly irritating because it would probably make Wonshik get all mushy. The hacker considered going to his guest room and changing but dismissed the idea almost immediately. Effort.

“Doctor Kim, are you in?” Jaehwan called, knocking on the white double doors to the medical ward. After about half a minute, the door creaked and Wonshik peered out. “Do you need something? I’m kind of in the middle of work,” the doctor asked, not making any room for the hacker to come in.

“Oh good, you aren’t busy,” Jaehwan replied, shouldering past him and walking into the giant ward. “We need to have a discussion,” he continued, coming to lean up against the examination table.

“I _am_ busy, so would you mind leaving?” the doctor asked, from his place by the door. “Yes, I would mind, actually, because Hakyeon just called me a whore without needing to say the word, and we need to talk about breakfast.”

“What breakfast? I never got the chance to eat anything,” Wonshik replied, crossing his arms. He hadn’t moved, and Jaehwan was in no mood to beg anymore today. He put on his cutest pout, looking at the doctor sidelong, and was rewarded with Wonshik’s lips twitching up. He was very obviously trying not to smile.

“Come here and talk to me please,” Jaehwan said, making grabby hands in the doctors’ direction. As expected, Wonshik caved in no time flat, grinning and walking to lean up against the table. The hacker stood beside him, dropping his pout as he felt his cheeks flush of their own accord. _‘He’s got a world-class blowjob from his boy crush’_

“So…” Jaehwan said, forcibly avoiding eye contact and staring at the floor. The image of his lips wrapped around the doctors’ length, Wonshik’s hand tangled in his hair, the taste of him on Jaehwan’s tongue, was front and center in the hacker’s mind.

“So? You barged in here claiming we needed to talk! So, talk,” Wonshik exclaimed, losing a bit of his smile. Jaehwan opened his mouth and then closed it several times. Somehow, he had lost the ability to speak, which was inconvenient for several reasons, but the most important being that they really needed to work this out before the boss had a full-scale temper tantrum.

“He- Sanghyuk knows,” the hacker mumbled, clasping his hands behind his back and spinning to face the other direction. “He knows _what_?” Wonshik asked, his voice sounding suitably panicked. “He knows- I told him that we’ve kissed before. I didn’t- I thought you would have told him already,” Jaehwan replied, forcing himself to appear calm. It wasn’t really working, but at least he was trying.

The doctor was quiet for a moment, and Jaehwan decided to be brave. He turned back around, coming face to face with Wonshik who was standing a bit closer than he was before, and the hacker jumped. Wonshik was staring through him, looking downright terrified. “Of course, I didn’t tell him! You get that now he’s going to straight up murder me, right?”

“No, he won’t, you’re friends!” Jaehwan replied, starting to feel a bit frantic. “I think he almost hit me when I told him, but Hakyeon is calming him down. Plus, who would keep me healthy and give me my medicine if you die?”

Wonshik eyes snapped into focus, the intensity behind them making Jaehwan jump again. “Okay, I don’t understand the reasoning behind anything you’ve ever done with me, but you need to stop. I don’t care if Sanghyuk tells you to or not, he will seriously either kick me out or put a bullet in my brain.”

The hacker was flustered. He had barely heard anything Wonshik just said, too distracted by the doctor’s knees showing through the holes in his jeans. His skin was such a pretty tan, like caramel sauce drizzled on vanilla ice cream. “What tattoos do you have?” Jaehwan asked out of nowhere, poking one of the mother-of-pearl buttons on Wonshik’s shirt.

The doctor blinked; disbelief curled in the set of his mouth. “Are you listening?” he asked, sounding as incredulous as he looked. “How many? Where are they, what do they look like?” Jaehwan replied, his mind suddenly consumed with an overwhelming need to see more of the doctor’s skin.

“Jae, focus! You need to stop whatever game you’re playing with me, and you can probably guess just how much it kills me to say that, but- “

“You’re soft with me,” Jaehwan murmured, staring at the tiny bit of ink peeking out from the open neck of the doctor’s shirt. “Even when we were playing earlier, and I kind of went a bit needy on you, you were still soft with me.”

“A _bit_ needy?” the doctor asked, his incredulity increasing. “Okay, more than a bit, but Sanghyuk, he- we were playing a stupid game and he was being infuriating and he asked if I wanted you and- and I did want you. I’m sorry,” Jaehwan replied, looking away and feeling himself blush again. The tips of his ears were getting hot.

Wonshik choked on something that sounded like it could have been a laugh. “You _wanted_ me? Just like that? No preamble or anything, just one minute on him and then the next on me?” Jaehwan’s ears were most definitely red now.

“I- yeah, I guess! I don’t know! I just… wanted you!” the hacker exclaimed, running his hands through his hair and taking a few steps toward the doctor’s desk. His legs and neck were already getting sore from his actives of last night and this morning, not to mention other places, but he resisted the urge to lie on the floor and cry until he fell asleep. Dealing with people was exhausting and definitely not worth all this trouble. Computers were better, they didn’t have feelings. Jaehwan wished, not for the first time, that he could be a computer.

“How was it, then? Did you get what you wanted?” the doctor asked quietly, turning around to face the door. Jaehwan’s breathing faltered, a ghost of Wonshik’s mouth on his neck making him shiver. “Yeah, it was- I like it rough somethings but, I just- I like softness too. It was exactly what I wanted.”

The doctor didn’t move, didn’t look or turn around, but Jaehwan could picture his conflicted expression. It was probably mirrored on his own face. “I don’t have many friends, if that wasn’t already painfully obvious from the way I behave. I’ve never really had many friends, so I sometimes find it… difficult to figure out- it’s hard for me to know where friendly feelings end, and other feelings begin. I’m not great at emotional stuff,” Jaehwan said quietly, addressing the doctors’ back and doing his best to explain himself.

“I like you, Wonshikie, I really do, and I know that’s probably a shitty thing to say after everything that happened, but I do. I don’t even know if ‘like’ is the right word. You make me feel safe and I trust you, and I like making you go all gooey. The only other person who’s ever made me feel that way is Hong- it’s not important. I just… please don’t be too angry with me. I know you were angry with me the other day, even though I have no clue why, but I don’t want you to be upset with me because I can’t control my- “

“Stop talking,” Wonshik said, making that the second time Jaehwan had heard that phrase today. It wasn’t even lunch yet. The doctor slowly turned around, looking more sad than conflicted, and it made the hacker’s heart ache for him. “You can’t say shit like that after what just happened. Not with how Sanghyuk feels about you, not with how I- Jae you _can’t_.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have much experience being single either. I thought you were allowed to want whoever you wanted and do what you liked, but I’ve just been hurting all my friends instead,” the hacker replied, fiddling with the hem of his borrowed sweatshirt.

He chanced a glance at the doctor, his heartrate quickening at the memory of Wonshik’s arms wrapped around his waist. Himself falling asleep, curled against the doctor’s chest. “Jyani, don’t,” Wonshik said, tilting his head up to look at the ceiling, his adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed hard. Jaehwan couldn’t stop. He didn’t even know what exactly he was feeling, but the words were pouring from his mouth before he could think them through.

“I wanted to kiss you after, but on balance, I thought it would be better if I didn’t- not in front of him,” he murmured, taking a few hesitant steps back to the examination table. The longing to tuck himself against the doctors’ body the way he had done that night, soak up his warmth, revel in the comfort, was _overpowering_.

Wonshik had looked at the sound of Jaehwan’s footsteps. “You’re a good kisser, you know, soft lips,” the hacker continued in almost a whisper. He was tall, but Wonshik was taller, even with the chunky sneakers Jaehwan had on. “Why are you still toying with me? Is this part of your game too? I can’t deal with it the way Sanghyuk does, I’m not strong like that.”

“I’m not playing a game, and you’re plenty strong,” Jaehwan replied quietly, unable to stop himself from nuzzling the doctor’s cheek. Wonshik’s resolve seemed to crumble at the simple gesture. He cupped the hacker’s face in his hands, leaning in and kissing Jaehwan so sweetly that he felt like he might melt.

This was nothing like how it felt kissing Sanghyuk. Or Hongbin, for that matter. Sanghyuk was all passion and lust, energetic in a way Jaehwan knew would lead to something more. But kissing Wonshik was all comfort and kindness. He was so gentle, like Jaehwan might break if he was held too tightly. Hongbin was a mixture of both. Wonshik and Sanghyuk were like two sides of the same coin, and each gave Jaehwan a different type of intimacy. He needed both kinds, he realized now, which was probably why he couldn’t make himself fall in love with the criminal. Lust alone wasn’t enough.

“Tell me to stop,” Wonshik murmured, breaking their kiss and resting his forehead against Jaehwan’s. One of his hands found its way to Jaehwan’s hip, pulling the hacker close against him as his thumb brushed back and forth across Jaehwan’s cheek.

“No,” Jaehwan whispered, and Wonshik groaned under his breath. “Please, Jyani, tell me to stop. I can’t treat you the way he does, like an _object_. No matter how much you want it, I don’t have it in me to treat someone like you cruelly.”

In answer, Jaehwan pressed his lips to the doctors. It was so simple like this, they moved together _easily_. It was nice, Jaehwan thought, loosely gripping the lapels of Wonshik’s bottle-green coat. It made the hacker feel... happy.

Wonshik lifted him a moment later, setting him on top of the examination table the way he had done so many times before. He held the back of Jaehwan’s neck, their lips moving against each other, slow and deliberate. The hacker couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“What?” the doctor asked, pulling away a little to look at Jaehwan’s face. Jaehwan was grinning like an idiot now, and he closed his eyes, tilting his head back to bask in the warm glow of his happiness. “It’s good,” the hacker replied, smiling even wider when he felt the doctor press a kiss to his jaw. “You never said how many tattoos you have,” Jaehwan murmured, Wonshik’s mouth tracing a path from his chin to his ear.

“I’ll tell you later,” the doctor replied, capturing the hacker’s lips once again. Jaehwan hummed contentedly, parting his lips to deepen the kiss.

Jaehwan wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that, but it felt like no time at all had passed when they heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Wonshik pulled away instantly, hastily straightening both his and the hacker’s hair and buttoning up his own shirt. Jaehwan had been idly fiddling with the buttons and a few had come undone.

The doctor took Jaehwan’s wrist, pushing his sleeve back just as the door swung open. “Wonshik, we need to talk,” Sanghyuk said, strolling purposefully into the medical ward before stopping dead on the threshold. Hakyeon, who had been behind him, nearly tripped over the criminal’s foot.

“Jae, what are you doing here? I thought I left you in my office,” the criminal said, his voice getting the slightest bit chilly. The doctor had his back to Sanghyuk, and he winked at Jaehwan before he replied, “His heart rate is a bit elevated, so I’m just doing a routine checkup to make sure it’s nothing too serious.”

Jaehwan had to force himself not the laugh. All of the doctor’s customary nervousness around Sanghyuk was gone, it was actually kind of sexy. Sanghyuk narrowed his eyes at the two of them, not seeming very convinced, but after a few moments he asked, “Are you okay sweetheart?”

Jaehwan nodded, his skin tingling as Wonshik pressed two fingers to his pulse point. He squirmed a little, clearing his throat before asking, “Did you two have a nice walk?”

“Yeah, it was very- it was relaxing,” Sanghyuk replied, not looking relaxed in the slightest. He seemed to regain the ability to move, and he crossed the ward in a few long strides, standing at Jaehwan’s side and taking his hand. “When are you going to your old place to pack up your stuff?”

The hacker was a bit surprised by the question. “Uh, I haven’t really thought about it yet. Do you want me to do it today?” he asked, trying not to get distracted by Wonshik’s fingertips gently prodding the side of his neck. “Your throat feels a little swollen,” the doctor muttered, pulling a penlight from his pocket and shining it into the hacker’s open mouth. He must have forgotten he was acting and let his medical training take over.

“Overuse,” Jaehwan replied easily, looking from the criminal to the doctor. He was feeling mischievous again, and _so_ happy. Sanghyuk winced and turned his head to stare at the wall, while Wonshik just seemed flustered. “Why? Because you never shut your mouth?” Hakyeon asked, tapping his foot impatiently and crossing his arms.

“Well, I- maybe you _should_ go today. Just to get your stuff from Hongbin so you can be rid of him for good,” the criminal said, ignoring Hakyeon and trying for a nonchalance that he didn’t quite achieve. “And I don’t- I probably shouldn’t go with you because of what happened, so Hakyeon will go.”

“Will not!” the second in command exclaimed, glaring at the criminal when he turned around. “I played chauffeur for him yesterday! Have one of the men do it!”

“I can go. I don’t really have much else to do today, and it would be nice to get out of the house for a while,” Wonshik said, opening a drawer under the examination table and pulling out a little plastic bag. “Absolutely not,” Sanghyuk snapped, narrowing his eyes as the doctor unwrapped a cough drop.

Jaehwan opened his mouth, feeling weirdly giddy when the doctor dropped the candy on his tongue. “Yeah, Wonshikie is strong. He can help carry boxes and things. Plus, Hakyeon looks about as skinny as me, and I don’t think he’s suited to manual labor,” the hacker said happily, giving the second in command his sweetest fake smile.

“Watch it nerd, I have a gun and I could break you in half even if I didn’t,” Hakyeon snapped. “Hyung,” Sanghyuk hissed angrily, but nobody was paying him any attention. “Oh, can your gun move furniture? If so, then by all means come along,” Jaehwan replied, crossing his arms and rolling the cough drop around on his tongue. It was actually helping to sooth the roughness in his throat quite a bit.

“Enough, both of you,” Sanghyuk said exasperatedly, almost stomping his foot as the doctor lifted the hacker off the table. Jaehwan flashed Hakyeon a mean smirk around Sanghyuk’s back and was pleased to see the second in commands jaw clench. The hacker was still pretty pissed at Hakyeon for saying those things to him earlier, not to mention what he said on the way to the hospital, and Jaehwan wasn’t planning on letting him off the hook that easy.

“Yeah, enough _Hakyeon_ ,” he said mockingly, adding, “Jealous bitch,” in an undertone as he turned to face Sanghyuk. The criminal was at his side and then gone a second later, and Jaehwan looked around, bewildered, to see Sanghyuk yanking a very shiny Glock out of Hakyeon’s hand. 

The second in command looked livid, Jaehwan could see the hatred in the way his eyes flashed. “He will _not_ speak to me that way, Sanghyuk,” he hissed, taking a quick step in Jaehwan’s direction, but the criminal blocked his way. “Now who needs to cool off?! Go- just go somewhere else and take a fucking breath,” Sanghyuk replied angrily, sliding Hakyeon’s gun into his sweatshirt pocket and pushing him backward to the door.

Hakyeon’s longing to hit someone was clear, but the criminal succeeded in getting him out into the hall. Before the door closed, Jaehwan heard him hiss, “Handle it.”

Sanghyuk spun back around, looking almost as frustrated as Hakyeon was angry. “Can you try not to antagonize him, sweetheart? Please?” Jaehwan rolled his eyes and shrugged, but he let the criminal hold his waist when he walked to his original place. “He doesn’t take insults like that very well, and I’d really prefer if we weren’t fighting amongst ourselves. We are doing enough fighting with those on the outside.”

“Can I have his gun?” Jaehwan asked, slipping his hand inside the criminal’s pocket, feeling the brush of cold chrome against his fingertips. “No sweetheart, you’ll shoot yourself in the foot.” Sanghyuk’s expression softened, and he leaned down a bit to nip Jaehwan’s bottom lip. “Don’t be upset with him, okay?”

Jaehwan eyed him, not enjoying the fact that Sanghyuk had picked Hakyeon’s side instead of his. The next instant, the criminal kissed the pout off his face, sending that familiar sensation of sparks all the way to his toes. _Lust_.

It went on until the doctor cleared his throat, making Jaehwan jump a little and pull away, almost choking on his cough drop. “Since Hakyeon is obviously not an option right now, and since I really shouldn’t, will you please go home with him and help pack? I don’t want him to be alone with Hongbin,” Sanghyuk asked, avoiding eye contact and clearly unhappy with the situation.

“Of course,” Wonshik replied, completely on the other end of the scale. He was very obviously trying _not_ to look happy about the situation. The doctors’ hand came to rest on Jaehwan’s lower back, leading the hacker away from Sanghyuk and towards the door Hakyeon had just left through. _Comfort_.

The criminal followed them all the way to the garage, like a giant shadow. “When you get back, we need to talk, seriously,” he called from the door, and Wonshik waved a hand behind him in acknowledgement.

“Sweetheart don’t drive! Let him drive, that’s partially why I wanted someone to go with you!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, but Jaehwan was full of too much giddy excitement to agree. “Baby, I haven’t driven it what feels like years!” he called back, feeling for his keys out of habit before he realized the door was already unlocked.

“But what if you get in a car accident?!”

“I have a doctor!”

**Chapter 24: The Visit**   
**Summary:**

**Jaehwan blinked, swallowing his mouthful and glancing at Wonshik. The doctors face had gone blank.**

  
  


_ The Visit: _

Hongbin was sprawled on the floor of his living room, waiting for Taekwoon to finish cooking their lunch. His face was still bruised, but more of a sickly green rather than vivid purple, and the medication helped most of the pain.

The smell of chicken and garlic had wafted over to him, and his mouth was starting to water when the front door lock clicked softly. Hongbin sat up, instantly alert. Nobody came to visit him other than Taekwoon and Seokjin, but neither of them had keys and the former was already here.

“Binnie? I’m home, are you here?” the most beautiful voice in the whole world called. Hongbin hadn’t let himself hope that Jaehwan would actually come back, he thought his hacker would just send movers like he said before!

Hongbin shot to his feet, barely noticing that he was hearing the sound of two people taking off their shoes and jogged to the entry hall. “Baby!” he exclaimed, catching Jaehwan in a hug and spinning him around in circles. “Binnie! My shoe!” his hacker replied, the one shoe he still had on bumping against Hongbin’s shin.

The gamer didn’t put him down. He didn’t think he was physically capable. “Hi,” the other person said, and Hongbin stopped trying to bury his face in Jaehwan’s shoulder long enough to glance up. It was the doctor.

“Hey, long time no see,” the gamer replied, dismissing the question of why he had come instead of Sanghyuk and squeezing Jaehwan tighter. “You two know each other? I thought you just texted,” Jaehwan said, wiggling a little in Hongbin’s arms, trying to escape. “I ran into him at a club once,” Hongbin replied, half truthfully.

“Kong, who’s here?” Taekwoon’s voice called from the other room. “Jae! And that doctor for some reason.”

Taekwoon appeared at the kitchen door, his catlike eyes x-raying Jaehwan and the doctor, spatula still in hand. Wonshik had gone very still, standing next to his shiny ankle boots and staring right back. “Interesting. You’re just in time for lunch. Leave your men outside and come eat,” Taekwoon said in his customary soft voice, before he disappeared again.

Hongbin looked around, only just now noticing the two guys in suits standing in the hall. “My new security detail, they followed us,” Jaehwan explained, waving at the men before the doctor shut the door. “Will you put me down please? I’m here to sort out my stuff,” the hacker continued, but Hongbin ignored him and carried him back to the living room.

The doctor followed close after them, but Hongbin ignored him as well. “Thanks for the flowers baby, I was going to text you and say I got them, but I wasn’t sure if it was ok or not.” The flowers in question, a vase of white jasmine almost identical to the ones Hongbin had delivered to the mansion so many weeks ago, was sitting prominently on the coffee table.

“I knew you got them, delivery confirmation,” Jaehwan replied. It seemed he had resigned himself to being carried, and he draped his arms loosely around the gamer’s shoulders. Hongbin was so happy he could barely stand it. Jaehwan was back in his arms, he could smell the lavender on Jaehwan’s skin. It wasn’t a dream.

“Come get food,” Taekwoon called, and Hongbin carried Jaehwan to the kitchen. “What did you make?” the hacker asked, his high voice sounding like the prettiest music to Hongbin’s ears. “Sautéed chick and rice.”

“You can’t eat if you’re holding me,” Jaehwan said, tapping the top of Hongbin’s head. “Then I’ll never eat ever again,” the gamer replied, hugging Jaehwan against him so tightly that the hacker squeaked. “You’re so stupid, put me down! Wonshikie, help!”

The doctor appeared at Hongbin’s side, saying evenly, “Please let go of him.” Hongbin thought about arguing, but Jaehwan was squirming around so much that the gamer was close to dropping him anyway. Hongbin sighed dramatically and set Jaehwan on his feet.

“Thank you,” he said, brushing nonexistent wrinkles off his sweatshirt. The gamer missed little things like that, Jaehwan’s ticks and habits. He smiled so widely it felt like his cheeks were touching his ears. His hacker stepped away and leaned back against the doctor, and that was when Hongbin noticed all the red splotches on his neck. The unfamiliar sweatshirt he had on almost covered them, but not quite. He also noticed the way the doctor looked at Jaehwan. Awestruck.

The doctor’s feelings weren’t news to Hongbin, he had used them to his advantage to get into Sanghyuk’s compound. But he had never actually seen Wonshik and Jaehwan together other than the time Sanghyuk had almost shot him, and it was different. Jaehwan wasn’t screaming this time and he was very much awake.

“It’s hot as sin in here,” the doctor murmured, tugging on his collar and resting a hand on Jaehwan’s hip. It didn’t look like a conscious gesture, but the gamer still eyed that hand. It didn’t belong there. Jaehwan blinked a few times and then replied, “Is it? You can put your jacket in the hall closet if you’re too warm.”

“I’ve kept the heat on the way you like it. The place feels weird without it, not like home,” Hongbin said, turning to grab a plate from the counter as the doctor left the kitchen. Jaehwan didn’t say anything, but Taekwoon asked, “Are you sleeping with him as well as your boss?”

“No,” Jaehwan replied defensively, crossing his arms and glaring at the thief. “I phrased that wrong. Are you two physically or emotionally intimate?”

Taekwoon’s tone was conversational, but the question was loaded with hidden meaning. “Why do you care?” Jaehwan snapped, taking the plate Hongbin handed him. Jaehwan must not know that Wonshik was the one who helped the gamer visit him, or that Taek and the doctor were on a first name basis.

“It’s just interesting,” Taekwoon replied, glancing at the door as the doctor reentered. He held out a plate of food which the doctor took a bit hesitantly, eyeing it like he thought it might be poisoned. “What about Hakyeon?”

“No! Hakyeon and I don’t get along very well, he doesn’t like me,” the hacker said, eating a piece of chicken with his fingers as the four of them made their way to the dining room. Hongbin and Jaehwan almost never used it, usually preferring to eat on the couch or in the kitchen, but the table in the kitchen nook only had two chairs, and Taekwoon was leading the way.

“And yet, he set up a protection detail for you and accompanied you to the hospital.” Jaehwan rolled his eyes, sitting down at the head of the table and motioning the doctor to his side. “He did that for Sanghyuk, not because he likes me.”

“How could someone not like you?” Hongbin asked, his feet glued to the carpet next to Jaehwan’s chair. Sure, his hacker might come off a little abrasive sometimes, but his quick wit was part of what made him so charming. “I’m not actually a very likable person, Binnie. You’re just oblivious.”

“So, Wonshik, is Jaehwan your family’s new _chosen civilian_?” Taekwoon asked, sitting opposite the doctor and ignoring Jaehwan and the gamer’s words. Hongbin was still standing at Jaehwan’s side, but at a look from his friend, he forced himself to move away and sit down.

“I don’t know what you mean,” the doctor replied, shooting a nervous at Jaehwan and folding his hands in his lap. He hadn’t touched his food. “Eat, it’s impolite if you don’t. And I think you know exactly what I mean.”

Jaehwan and Hongbin exchanged a confused look. “It was unfortunate, what happened to the first one, but I can assure you that he’s being well taken care of,” Taekwoon continued, taking a bite of his own chicken, a thoughtful expression in his face.

“Please don’t speak about him, Sanghyuk wasn’t the only one who cared about him,” the doctor replied, his deep voice tinged with anger. It was the first time Hongbin had heard him use that tone. “What happened to who?” Jaehwan asked, his mouth full of rice.

“Nothing,” Wonshik said sharply, but Taekwoon replied, “Your bosses first boyfriend. He was injured rather badly and lives in my families compound now, under our protection.” Jaehwan blinked, swallowing his mouthful and glancing at Wonshik. The doctors face had gone blank.

“ _Your_ boss was the one who hurt him in the first place, before he stole him and-“ the doctor said, cutting himself off. “Is that what Sanghyuk told you?” Taekwoon asked, a quiet laugh crinkling the corners of his sharp eyes. “Well, that’s enough talk of unpleasantness for now. You said you were here to pack?”

“Yeah,” Jaehwan replied slowly, looking back and forth from the thief to the doctor. Hongbin was doing the same, not liking the line of that conversation at all. “Yeah, I’m here to sort out what I’m taking to my new apartment and I brought Wonshikie to help.”

“Don’t you mean he was sent along to help?” Taekwoon asked, his eyes never once leaving the doctors face. “No, Hakyeon was the one who was going to be sent along, but since he tried to shoot me, I asked Wonshik to come instead.”

“Has he given you a gun yet?”

“No, I asked but he said I’d hurt myself.”

“Interesting.”

Hongbin was listening to their back and forth, only understanding half the meaning. The actual spoken questions were plain enough, but whatever hidden information that Taekwoon was finding in them remained a mystery.

“You look a little roughed up baby, is your new boyfriend treating you badly?” Hongbin asked, trying to change the subject and find out a little information of his own. Jaehwan shot him a glare that could melt steel, running a hand through the dark hair Hongbin knew was soft as silk, before he exclaimed, “For the millionth fucking time, I am _single!_ Why is that so god damn difficult for everyone to understand?!”

That was good news in Hongbin’s opinion. Not as good as if Jaehwan had said that they were still together, but good none the less. “Because you’re so popular, everyone you meet loves you. He is no exception,” the gamer replied, grinning at Jaehwan and then the doctor. Wonshik flushed and looked away, finally eating a bite of his lunch. Jaehwan glanced at the doctor, his expression full of something Hongbin couldn’t decipher, before brushing Wonshik’s fringe off his forehead. “Don’t pick on Wonshikie, Binnie-yah. He’s too sweet to be picked on.”

“So, you two _are_ … whatever you want to call not-fucking-but-also-very-much-fucking!” Taekwoon exclaimed happily, his normally soft voice sounding oddly loud in the echoing dining room. “Shut up, Taek! Why are you even here?” Jaehwan replied, turning his glare from Hongbin to the thief. “To make sure Kong doesn’t starve to death.”

\---

Wonshik was nearly out of breath, despite the fact that he was in the best shape of his life.

After that horrifically awkward lunch had ended, Jaehwan had collapsed on the couch in the living room claiming over-exhaustion. Hongbin had fallen all over himself, getting the hacker tea and a cold towel for his forehead as well as propping him up on a mountain of pillows and covering him in blankets. Since then, Wonshik, the gamer, and the thief, had all been carrying things to and from the living room and having Jaehwan say _yes_ or _no_. It was like waiting on a god damn princess.

Not that Wonshik actually minded all that much. Having a brainless task helped keep him too occupied to dwell on the fact that Jung Taekwoon was _breathing his fucking air_. They had texted only this morning, and the doctor had not been at all prepared to meet the thief face to face.

“Jyani, is this jacket yours?” Wonshik asked, carrying the jacket in question down the hall and into the living room. The hacker looked up from the notebook he was doodling in and nodded. “Of course! Do you think Binnie would actually buy something with a giant fuck off tiger embroidered on the back?”

Wonshik guessed he wouldn’t, but he didn’t actually know the gamer all that well. What he had learned so far though, was that Hongbin didn’t seem to give a shit about any of their shared belongings, perfectly happy to let Jaehwan have everything he wanted. It really was no wonder that the hacker acted like such a brat sometimes. He had been spoiled by his parents and then continued to be spoiled by his boyfriend.

“Baby, dark gold sheet set, yes or no?” Hongbin’s voice called from down the hall. “Yes,” Jaehwan called back, returning his attention to his drawing. “Ok, what about those pretty floral ones my mom bought us two Christmas’s ago?”

“Your mom bought them! You keep them!” Jaehwan replied, not even bothering to look up. “Ok, and I’m giving you the ones with the whales you got for some reason, because you love them way more than I do!”

The doctor was still standing in the living room, watching Jaehwan draw. “How are your hands so cute? Like even your hand shape is cute,” Wonshik muttered, looking on as Jaehwan’s black pen flew across the page. “It’s not cute, go put that on the _me_ pile,” the hacker replied, still not looking up.

“How’s your tea doing angel? Need a refill?” Hongbin asked, walking right past the doctor and straight to the kitchen. Wonshik looked at the tall glass mug on the coffee table and realized that it was, in fact, nearly empty. Jaehwan and Hongbin had that easy simpatico one normally sees in long term partners, but they were so in sync that it was like watching two people that each had one half of the same brain.

Hongbin walked back into the living room and Jaehwan held up his mug without even looking, letting the gamer fill it from the teapot in his hand. “How are you feeling? Any better?” Hongbin asked, brushing down the back of Jaehwan’s hair. Wonshik felt like he was intruding, the contact was so familiar and intimate. Affectionate.

“Mm a little, still kind of tired though. It’s weird, I haven’t been tired in the middle of the day since starting the wonder doctor’s miracle cure.” Wonshik looked up from his feet, peering closely at Jaehwan’s face. Hongbin hadn’t let the doctor do anything, insisting on caring for the hacker himself, no matter how stupid that was.

The gamers brow was creased with worry, and he knelt down beside the couch, setting the teapot on the coffee table beside the flowers Jaehwan had apparently sent him. “Is this too much for you to do right now? Would you rather just wait and do the rest after you move all this?” he asked, stroking the hacker’s cheek.

Jaehwan leaned into the touch almost unconsciously, capping pen and closing his eyes. “No,” he murmured, “Sanghyukkie wanted me to do it today, probably so that he could get rid of me as soon as possible.” Wonshik blinked. What Sanghyuk actually wanted to do, in the doctor’s opinion, was put a ring on it.

“Come on, let’s keep going. I’ll help,” the hacker said, opening his eyes and trying to sit up. Hongbin gently pushed him back down, cooing at Jaehwan that he should ‘just relax’ and that they ‘would take of everything’, in such a sappy tone that Wonshik was surprised it didn’t induce vomiting.

Jaehwan didn’t resist, letting Hongbin fuss over him and smiling fondly the whole time. “That goes in Jae’s pile,” the gamer said, pointing to the frankly hideous jacket still in Wonshik’s hand once Jaehwan was re-tucked under his blankets. “I know,” the doctor replied, following the gamer back down the hall.

“His heartrate is still elevated,” Hongbin murmured, turning into the guest bedroom they were currently sorting through. “How do you know?” Wonshik asked, a bit surprised. “I know how to take a pulse; I didn’t manage to keep him alive this long without learning a few things.” Wonshik stared at him, trying to figure out when he had the time to...

When Hongbin had tucked Jaehwan in, his hand had lingered on the hacker’s wrist for longer than normal. But it had looked like he was rubbing circles on the back of Jaehwan’s hand with his thumb! Hongbin was a sly one for sure, Jaehwan probably hadn’t even noticed!

“Why do you think he’s tired? Has he been taking his meds?” the gamer asked, crossing his arms and giving the doctor a steely look. “He’s been getting the shots from me regularly, but I’m not sure about his others. He always says he is but waves me off when I try and ask him about them.” Hongbin’s eyes narrowed. “Im picking up his refills tomorrow, so how can I get them to him?”

“You could give them to me? I know Sanghyuk doesn’t want you at the compound but I’m fairly certain he would make an exception for Jae’s health,” Wonshik replied, only half believing his own words. The bruises still faintly coloring Hongbin’s face were a stark reminder of just how strong the criminals dislike for him was.

Hongbin looked incredulously at the doctor and shook his head. “I can’t go to his house, he’s proved himself to be too volatile to be able to manage that. And don’t get me wrong, I’m not scared of your pissy little boss, I laughed in his face and I’ll laugh in it again. But if Jae sees him beat me up, he won’t be able to handle it, and I don’t want to accidentally make him have an episode. Not when he’s been doing so well.”

The doctor nodded. Anyone who could pick a one on one fight with Han Sanghyuk had to have some balls, but on balance, Wonshik thought that personally witnessing the round two of that fight would hurt Jaehwan both physically and emotionally. “Why don’t I just come meet you somewhere, not near the mansion, and you can give them to me then?”

“You idiots are one hundred percent going to get caught,” Taekwoon’s voice said from the other side of the room. Wonshik nearly jumped out of his skin, the thief was so quiet he had forgotten he was there. “Get caught doing what? Giving Jae’s medication to his doctor?” Hongbin asked, his voice getting a little snappy.

“Do you have a better idea?” Wonshik asked, once he had stopped feeling so startled. Taekwoon didn’t answer, his eyes flicking towards the door as Jaehwan’s voice asked, “A better idea for what?”

Wonshik jumped again, hating how on edge he felt when these three were so clearly at ease with each other. The hacker was standing in the doorway, one of his overlong sleeves hanging at his side and hiding his hand, sleepily rubbing his eyes with the other. It took everything the doctor had not to say the word ‘cute’.

“I’m picking up your meds tomorrow baby, we are just trying to figure out how I can get them to you,” Hongbin replied, crossing to the hacker and draping his arms around him. Jaehwan blinked a few times and then yawned. “I don’t need those, Wonshikie’s stuff is plenty.”

“Have you been taking them?” Wonshik asked, setting down the jacket in his hand and crossing his arms. “Yeah, when I stay in my guest room,” Jaehwan mumbled, closing his eyes and dropping his head on Hongbin’s shoulder. “Which is never,” Wonshik replied, sighing and looking at the ceiling.

“There’s always so much happening, I forget,” the hacker said quietly. Hongbin dropped to one knee, letting Jaehwan sit on his thigh like a bench before the doctor even realized Jaehwan’s legs were shaking. “You need to take them if you want to stay healthy baby. Remember how sick you used to be? I don’t want to see you like that again.”

Wonshik stared at the two of them. How had they ever broken up? Watching Hongbin and Jaehwan together made the doctor realize just how right he had been when he decided to help the gamer try and get Jaehwan back.

Sure, the hacker might enjoy messing around with Wonshik, _if the fifteen minutes they spent making out in the car when they got here was any indication_. And sure, he might like having sex with Sanghyuk in every room of the mansion. But this was a _relationship_ , Wonshik thought. This was a real, emotional, near-perfect relationship. The doctor was happy about that, but also extremely jealous. This Jaehwan, Hongbin’s Jaehwan, was the Jaehwan of Wonshik’s fantasies.

“Go take a nap, you need some real rest okay?” Hongbin murmured, cupping the hacker’s cheek. Jaehwan nodded, his head already lolling to one side. The gamer scooped him up and carried him princess style out of the room, presumably to their bedroom, leaving Wonshik and Taekwoon alone.

The doctor hurried to busy himself, sorting through a stack of clothes and trying to find the most Jaehwan-ish ones. “So, after our conversation this morning, and all this, are you any closer to making your decision?” the thief’s voice asked, much closer to Wonshik than it had been a moment ago. “Not really, no,” the doctor replied in a whisper, keeping his eyes fixed on the red shirt in his hands.

“Well, you’d better choose quickly. Otherwise, things are going to get _very_ messy for everyone involved, Jaehwan included. You have 24 hours left to decide.”

—-

**Hyulk:**

_‘Wonshik, it’s past 5pm. Where the fuck are you two and why isn’t Jae answering his phone?’_

**You:**

_‘He’s sleeping. I’m still at his apartment.’_

_‘Why is he sleeping?! I sent you two there to pack!’_

_‘We did pack a bunch, but he was over exhausted, presumably from all the *work* he did this morning. And since I wasn’t going to insist that he keep going when he could barely stand on his own, he’s taking a nap.’_

_‘Is he sick?! What are you doing if he’s sleeping?’_

_‘Hongbin is trying to teach me to play video games. I’m shit at it; in case you were curious.’_

_‘The fuck?!?! I sent you to keep an eye on him not become his best friend!’_

_‘That’s it, I’m coming to get you both.’_

_‘Save it Sanghyuk, just leave Jae alone. We’ll come home when he wakes up, no need to get all macho.’_

_‘Do not fucking speak to me that way.’_

_‘Wake him up and come home now. Don’t argue.’_

**Chapter 25: The Misery**   
**Summary:**

**“I cry all the time because my world is crashing down around me and it’s all your fault!”**

“What do you think about these cushions?” Jaehwan asked, trying to hold his phone in front of the criminal’s face.

Sanghyuk was a little busy, currently trailing kisses down the hacker’s bare stomach, but he lifted his head to look. “They’re nice, but will you please stop shopping for like twenty minutes?” he asked, propping himself up on his forearm. The only other light in the room came from Sanghyuk’s fireplace, crackling merrily opposite them.

Jaehwan had been very distracted since he and Wonshik got back yesterday, looking at furniture online and hiding out in the medical ward. Sanghyuk had gotten him alone for the first time all day, but the hacker was still wasn’t paying him any attention.

“No! I have to pick everything out by tonight so the people can deliver it to my new place tomorrow,” Jaehwan replied, rolling over so he was lying on his stomach and continuing to tap his screen. “Yeah I get that, but that doesn’t mean you have to do it _right now_ ,” Sanghyuk replied, resting his forehead on the small of Jaehwan’s back.

“You already distracted me once, let me focus. Now, what about these? Actually, I think I like the first ones better,” the hacker said, not bothering to show Sanghyuk a picture this time. The criminal groaned, flipping Jaehwan over so he was on his back again and snatching his phone away. “Hey!” the hacker squeaked, reaching for his phone.

He was too slow, and Sanghyuk dropped it on the foot of his bed before he straddled Jaehwan, sitting on his chest and pinning him to the mattress. “You need to take a break, sweetheart,” the criminal said firmly, stopping the hand Jaehwan tried to smack him with.

Jaehwan’s frustrated expression turned to fury so fast that Sanghyuk almost didn’t catch the switch. His jaw clenched; color flushed high on his cheeks as his liquid brown eyes sparked dangerously. “Give it back. _Now_ ,” the hacker hissed, wrenching his arm free from Sanghyuk’s grip. He took advantage of Sanghyuk’s shock and shoved the criminal off, rolling over and standing up as he swiped his phone from the foot of the bed.

Sanghyuk sat, frozen, watching Jaehwan cross his dimly lit bedroom. The hacker was facing away, the blue light from his phone creating a fuzzy halo around him. “What, don’t you want to play some more?” the criminal asked, using Jaehwan’s preferred word for sex in hopes that it would coax him back.

“Has it ever crossed your mind that I _don’t_?!” Jaehwan replied angrily, spinning in place and dropping his phone on the floor. Threw it, was a better description, and the criminal was thankful for his plush carpets. At least he wouldn’t have to buy the hacker a new phone. _Again_.

“Not really, all you ever seem to want to do is fuck,” Sanghyuk said, keeping his voice soft and pointedly not matching Jaehwan’s volume. Honestly, the criminal was taken aback that they were even having this conversation. For them, all roads led to sex. That just seemed to be how their dynamic worked.

Jaehwan’s jaw dropped, his top lip curling in unmistakable disgust. He stared disbelievingly at the criminal, before fairly shouting, “Do you know how much shit I have to do?! I have to essentially reconfigure my entire life! I don’t have time for your neediness right now!”

_His_ neediness?! Sanghyuk felt himself getting hot, either from the sting of insult or anger, he wasn’t sure. If he had to guess, he’d say anger. “ _You_ are seriously calling _me_ needy? You’re the most attention hungry person I’ve ever fucking met!” the criminal replied, his voice growing unintentionally menacing. Maybe it _was_ intentional.

“Has it ever crossed _your_ mind, sweetheart, how much of your bullshit I put up with on a daily basis?” he continued, getting off his bed and walking slowly toward the hacker. Jaehwan hadn’t moved, glaring so ferociously that the criminal was surprised lightning bolts weren’t shooting out of his eyes.

“Ninety percent of the time, you’re crying for _god knows_ what reason, and on the rare occasion your eyes are dry, you go and mess around with Wonshik and your ex. I’m _honestly_ surprised you haven’t tried to fuck Hakyeon or one of my men yet. I don’t know if you’re secretly some kind of incubus and literally need dick to live, but its fucking _exhausting_ trying to reel you in all the time.”

Jaehwan’s eyes flashed, getting even more black then they already were. Sanghyuk had said it before, and he’d say it again; Jaehwan looked like a demon when his eyes dilated like that. “Do you know why I cry all the time, Sanghyuk? Do you?” the hacker basically growled, his normally high voice turning dangerously low.

“I cry all the time because my world is crashing down around me and it’s _all your fault_!”

At this point, the criminal had come to stand in front of Jaehwan, noting that the hacker’s hands were curled into fists at his side. “How is it _my_ fault that _your_ boyfriend cheated on you? Do you think I told Seokjin to fuck him or something?” he asked, genuine curiosity tinged with icy amusement as he stared coldly down at his hacker’s face.

“He wouldn’t have cheated if you hadn’t dragged me here in the first place!” Jaehwan shouted, full volume this time. “I would have been there, and if you hadn’t shown up and locked yourself in my bedroom, he probably wouldn’t have assumed you and I were sleeping together! My life would still be perfect if I never fucking met you!”

Just like that, Sanghyuk’s heart shattered. He felt it happen, thousands of tiny splinters stabbing the inside of his ribcage. Tearing him to shreds. Under the broken pieces, there was nothing but cold darkness, a vacuum. With quite a bit of effort, he pushed his heartbreak aside, switching to his default dominant setting so he wouldn’t have to come to terms with it right then. “How do you think I feel?! I was perfectly happy before you came along and _ruined_ me! Do you know how awful it is being in love with someone who doesn’t give a shit about you?”

“That’s another thing!” Jaehwan hissed, stepping back when Sanghyuk stepped forward. “I asked you if you wanted to stop, and you said no. I told you that you would get hurt, and you still said no. It’s not my fault you can’t grasp the concept of someone not giving you what you want!”

“You really love torturing me, don’t you?” Sanghyuk asked coolly, taking a small pleasure in the fact that Jaehwan continued to step back. He was still intimidated, no matter how furious he looked. “I regret ever sleeping with you, Sanghyuk. Don’t pin your feelings on me when you put yourself in this position.”

“Oh, _really_?” the criminal asked, masking his pain with a lilting tone of disbelief. “You regret using me to get the loneliness fucked out of you? You regret treating me like your personal oxytocin vending machine? Have you ever had a genuine feeling in your life, sweetheart? Or is it all just lust and self-hatred?”

Jaehwan’s back connected with the wall, he was out of places to go. “Fuck you,” he hissed, spitting the words like acid. Sanghyuk chuckled, but there was no humor in the sound. “You know, I don’t actually enjoy loving you either, sweetheart. It’s not fun for me, being driven crazy by someone who couldn’t care less.”

The hacker’s hand came up to hit him, but the criminal caught it easily, pushing Jaehwan against the wall so his wrist was pinned above his head. “Don’t give what you can’t take, Jae. I know you don’t like being slapped.”

“Get off me, son of a bitch,” Jaehwan said, still in that deep growl of a voice the criminal hadn’t heard before. “Do you know what I _really_ think of you?” the criminal asked, splaying his fingers across Jaehwan’s bare chest, skin glowing golden in the firelight. “You’re a spoiled, _needy_ child, and you’re so deeply insecure that you’ll do whatever it takes to try and make people adore you, just to feel like you’re worth something.”

“You don’t know me,” the hacker hissed, his chest rising and falling in time with his fast, shallow breaths. “Don’t I?” Sanghyuk asked, not caring that the words he said next were horrible. He just wanted the hacker to hurt as badly as he did. “I bet the worst thing about Hongbin cheating on you wasn’t the fact that he slept with someone else, it’s that you’re worried Seokjin was _better_ than you.”

Jaehwan snarled wordlessly, trying to kick the criminal, but Sanghyuk caught his leg. He gripped Jaehwan’s thigh, pressing his nails into his milky skin hard enough to leave crescent marks as he smirked down at his hacker. It seemed like he had touched a nerve. Good.

“I don’t have time for your stupid games, I need to somehow turn a glorified storage unit into a home. I didn’t think I was actually going to have to,” Jaehwan snapped, trying to wriggle out of Sanghyuk’s grip and pointedly avoiding eye contact. “What do you mean, you didn’t _think_ you would have to? It was your idea to go look at apartments,” Sanghyuk replied, so over this conversation it was almost unreal.

“I mean,” Jaehwan said sharply, unsuccessfully trying to ignore the criminal’s mouth on his jaw. “I mean, I told you I n-needed a place to keep my stuff. I didn’t think you would actually kick me out.”

The criminal didn’t let the meaning of that sink in. “Don’t try to pin this on me, sweetheart, you put yourself in this position,” he replied, mocking, whispering the words into Jaehwan’s skin. Jaehwan shuddered against him, and the criminal let his mouth travel upwards, capturing the hacker’s lips with his own. At least Jaehwan wouldn’t be able to talk like this.

Jaehwan didn’t protest when Sanghyuk released his wrist, reaching down to grab his other thigh and hoisting him up, pressing him against the bedroom wall. His hands tangled themselves in in the criminal’s hair as their kiss turned desperate. Sanghyuk was using Jaehwan’s coping mechanism against him, needing rough and unemotional sex to try and rid himself of the pain burning in his chest.

“I h-hate you,” the hacker muttered, yanking Sanghyuk’s hair as the criminal used one hand to push his cute pink underwear to the side, just enough. Jaehwan was still stretched a bit from Sanghyuk fingering him to completion not even an hour ago, before he started to shop again, so the criminal freed himself from his basketball shorts and pushed past the hacker’s rim.

Jaehwan mewled, dropping his head on the criminal’s shoulder as his body began to tremble. Sanghyuk _loved_ Jaehwan, he really did. He knew that fact in the deepest part of his soul. Every small way the hacker showed him affection made the criminal’s heart sing. But now, in this moment, he _hated_ Jaehwan. Hated all the words that had flown so carelessly from the hacker’s perfect mouth, hated the way Jaehwan backed away from him.

“You are a whiny… selfish… brat…” Sanghyuk replied meanly, thrusting up into the hacker’s wet heat, punctuating each word. “And if you weren’t… so pretty,” he continued, nipping at the shell of Jaehwan’s pointy ear, “Nobody would ever think twice about you.”

The hacker raised his head. His skin was strangely warm under the criminal’s hands, almost hot, a glaring contrast to his usual chilliness. Jaehwan looked at Sanghyuk like he could see clear to the back of the criminal’s skull, assessing the hatred and anger still reverberating there. “You are s-so cruel,” Jaehwan said, the words like dark honey as they spilled from his lips.

“I’ve got nothing on _you_ , sweetheart,” Sanghyuk replied, roughly thrusting up into his hacker and taking a small pleasure at the whine that escaped him.

Jaehwan choked on his breath, pawing frantically at Sanghyuk. His nails left scratches on the criminals back, he yanked on the criminal’s hair so hard that Sanghyuk thought he might pull it straight off his scalp.

It never failed to amaze the criminal, how soft Jaehwan’s lips were. Their fullness, lushness, perfectly tailored to fit his own. The hacker’s staccato moans rang in the criminal’s ears, pitched just so and ending on a high note that sounded almost sinful.

Jaehwan’s eyes were like obsidian, his plush ruby lips bitten and raw. The tears rolled down his porcelain face like gleaming pearls. “I hate you, I hate you Sanghyuk, Sanghyuk, Sa-Sanghyuk...” His bitter words trailed off, leaving nothing but the criminals name behind.

“That’s right, sweetheart, keep saying my name,” the criminal replied, squeezing Jaehwan’s thighs and giving him a love bite on his collarbone. “Remind yourself of who takes care of you.”

A long sob escaped Jaehwan. He clung to the criminal with everything he had, his tears dripping from the tip of his chin as Sanghyuk fucked into him, hard and fast, chasing the oblivion of release.

The criminal slid one hand up Jaehwan’s thigh to the gentle curve of his petite waist, marveling at the smoothness of his skin. Waxed totally hairless and evenly toned as a statue. He would think he was in heaven if he hadn’t known he was in hell. Jaehwan had gone pliant for him, the muscles of his abdomen tensing and relaxing with each of Sanghyuk’s thrusts.

The pretty arch of his lower back pressed Jaehwan closer to the criminal than before, his head lolling to one side and lashes fluttering. Sanghyuk watched him, drinking in how wrecked Jaehwan looked, how his bottom lip trembled each time the criminal hit the sensitive bundle of nerves deep inside him.

Jaehwan jerked a little in his arms, doe eyes glazed and hazy with pleasure as he watched the criminal’s face. His pink tongue darted out to moisten is ever pinker mouth, the sight making Sanghyuk growl under his breath and pick up his pace. The little ‘ah, ah’ sounds running from the hacker’s lips, the sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead and chest, sent the criminal’s mind into overdrive.

Sanghyuk knew he had really, truly lost now. There would be no getting Jaehwan back after the things he’d said. ‘You’re acting like he was yours to begin with,’ a tiny voice said in his head. The voice was right. Jaehwan wasn’t his, had never been his, and no matter what he tried, the hacker would never be his.

He captured Jaehwan’s lips, inhaling his sobs as he worked them closer to completion. The hackers face was blotchy, his cheeks wet where Sanghyuk kissed his tears away. He loved Jaehwan. He loved him so much it felt like the force of it would explode out of him in blinding white light. But this was wrong. It wasn’t like the kitchen floor, not making love at all. This was like the shower, or the first time in the shower after they had called each other names and Sanghyuk had been too rough. The criminal hated it. Hated himself.

“Sanghyukkie, I’m... I’m so sor-ahh,” Jaehwan whimpered, as he came untouched. Painting the criminal’s stomach white. Sanghyuk’s vision blurred, the force of his own orgasm hitting him like a slap to the face. “I… I’m sorry too,” he replied breathlessly, kissing Jaehwan’s forehead, his temples, the tip of his perfect nose.

Jaehwan was hugging him so tightly that Sanghyuk couldn’t have put him down if he wanted too. He slid an arm around his hackers back, taking care to be gentle as he carried Jaehwan to the bathroom and into the spacious shower.

Warm water cascaded down around them, slightly muffling the sound of Jaehwan’s crying. His tears didn’t slow as the criminal carefully set him on his feet, but they kept their hands on each other as Sanghyuk reached for the bottle of lavender body wash. He had bought specially because he knew how much Jaehwan liked it.

He stripped away the remainder of their wet clothes and washed them both clean, taking extra time to shampoo his hacker’s dark hair. It was really just an excuse to touch Jaehwan more intimately, but his hacker finally started to relax under his sudsy fingers.

They didn’t speak, and the criminal was grateful. Jaehwan’s hands were all over him, first his shoulders, then his waist, his chest, like the hacker couldn’t make up his mind. Sanghyuk didn’t care, he was happy that Jaehwan wanted to touch him at all.

Once all the bubbles had washed away down the drain, Sanghyuk toweled his hacker off before drying himself. They probably looked a mess, flushed from the sex and the warm shower, damp hair sticking up every which way, but neither cared. On the way back to bed, Sanghyuk scooped up Jaehwan’s phone from the floor and pressed it into his hand.

“I agree, the first cushions were better,” he said softly, glancing at a picture of garish hot pink pillows on the lit screen. Jaehwan slapped a hand over his mouth, fresh sobs stuck in his throat as he looked pleadingly up at the criminal.

“I don’t know how to be alone,” he whispered, his doll eyes shining, and the words broken by hiccups. ‘Don’t make me go, don’t leave me alone’ were the words he left unspoken, but the criminal understood anyway

Sanghyuk held his resolve, barely. Hakyeon had been right when he said the criminal and the hacker needed time apart, and Sanghyuk was determined to at least try, even though it would probably kill him.

He didn’t answer, simply pressing a kiss to the crown of Jaehwan’s head before helping him into bed. It was early, but neither noticed. They curled up together, pulling the covers over their heads the way they had done so many times before, hiding from the world and the troubles surrounding them for what would probably be the last time. They were together in misery, different types of misery to be sure, but misery none the less.

**Chapter 26: The Opposite**   
**Summary:**

**'Wonshik took a breath. He was a doctor, for god sake, a half-naked boy in a robe shouldn’t faze him.'**

**Notes: Cat was inspired by my cat**

_ The Opposite: _

It had been three days since Jaehwan left the mansion, and Wonshik had missed the hacker more than he had ever missed anyone in his entire life.

Jaehwan had been gone when the mansion’s residents woke, the men stationed at the gate reported to an anxious Sanghyuk that the hacker had taken off in his blue car around four in the morning. He hadn’t left a note for either the criminal or the doctor, no goodbyes, simply vanishing from their lives as unceremoniously as he entered. One moment he was there, and a gaping cavern of silence replaced him the next.

Wonshik hadn’t heard from him at all, despite trying to text him and call him at least five times a day, and it made his heart ache. He wasn’t too worried about Jaehwan health wise, considering his semi-permanent body guards had gone with him, plus the fact that they knew where his new apartment was, but still. He missed Jaehwan terribly.

Thankful _, for once_ , that he had decided to go to medical school, Wonshik had arrived at the hacker’s new building. He was here to give Jaehwan his shot, it had been just over 72 hours since the last one, but he was using that as an excuse to check up on the hacker’s mental and physical wellbeing. He knew how much Jaehwan hated being alone, and living by himself after all this time must be hard for him.

The doctor made it to the elevator without incident, having already parked the Range Rover he borrowed from Sanghyuk in the guest spot in the underground garage, and used the keycard he had been given to get into the elevator. He took the quick but nerve-racking trip up to the penthouse, medical bag clutched in hand and foot tapping rhythmically on the marble floor. 

When he exited the elevator and stepped into the foyer, he was greeted by two suit clad men standing on either side of a pair of cherry wood double doors. “Good morning, I’m here to give Mr. Lee his treatment,” the doctor said, trying to sound as official as possible. “Is he expecting you? He gave orders not to let anyone in,” the man on the left replied curtly, looking the doctor over.

“He should be, he knows he needs to see me every three days,” Wonshik replied, trying not to think about what it would mean if the hacker didn’t let him in. “What’s in the bag?” the man on the right asked, holding his hand out. “My medical supplies. I _am_ a doctor, you know, and I’m pretty sure I’ve treated you before,” Wonshik said, gesturing to the man on the left. He nodded reluctantly, staring at the doctor with clear suspicion before turning and knocking sharply on the door.

“Step back, please,” the man on the right said, holding an arm out to stop Wonshik approaching. Trying not to let his frustration show, the doctor stayed put when one of the doors cracked open and Jaehwan’s high voice exclaimed, “What do you want? I told you not to bother me unless you’re going to make yourself _properly_ useful!”

The guard he was speaking too gulped, actually _gulped_ , his eyes widening and blinking very fast before he averted his gaze and stared blankly at the floor. “Doctor Kim is here to see you. He says you need a treatment of some kind. Can we let him in?”

Wonshik heard Jaehwan’s exasperated sigh, and then the reason for the guard’s uncomfortableness made its self _very_ apparent. The hacker opened the door fully and stepped out into the hall, wearing nothing but red lace, Wonshik could only call them _panties_ , and an open black silk kimono. His feet were bare, black hair swept up off his forehead in a graceful arc, dark circles prominent under his equally dark eyes.

Jaehwan crossed his thin arms over his chest, giving Wonshik a cursory once over. “I forgot,” he said simply, before turning and slinking back into his apartment, waving an arm behind him to signal that the doctor should follow. Wonshik closed his mouth- it had dropped open as soon as he took in the hacker’s lack of clothing- and he hurried in as well.

One of the men shut the door behind him, but Wonshik stopped on the threshold and tried to make sense of what he was seeing. This looked nothing like Jaehwan and Hongbin’s apartment, which had been so perfectly put together it almost looked staged. No, this was very much the opposite.

Boxes were stacked higher than the hacker was tall, clothes tossed carelessly on top of a familiar white couch in one corner of the spacious living room, and a king size mattress against the opposite wall. The wall in question was covered in mirrored tiles from the top of the extremely high ceiling to the floor, and pillows were scattered across the bed, some with cases and some without. A fluffy white duvet was in a heap on one side like it had been kicked off in sleep. The only thing that seemed to have been actually unpacked were the hacker’s computers, neatly set up on a wide black desk next to the staircase.

Wonshik looked around at the chaos, turning to glance at the kitchen. The penthouse’s floorplan was very open, so even from the door, the doctor could see empty take out containers lying haphazardly on the granite countertops, along with several half full bottles of alcohol and what looked like a piercing gun? A number of hallways branched off from either side of the large room, and the staircase most likely lead to something more than a loft, but it looked like the hacker had decided to just camp out in the living room.

“Make yourself at home,” Jaehwan said airily, collapsing on his huge bed and picking up a remote. He must have put his tv on mute, because he pressed a button that instantly filled the echoing apartment with the unmistakable and violent sounds of ‘Attack on Titian’.

The doctor did his best to focus on Jaehwan’s face, not how artfully he was arranged on his bed, lying on his stomach with all that exposed skin on display, as he asked, “Jae… are you okay?” Jaehwan’s large eyes swiveled in his direction, the tv still blaring, before quickly looking away. The flat-screen wasn’t even mounted on anything, just propped up against a wall.

“I’m perfectly fine. What would even prompt such a question,” he replied, laying his head on his folded hands and lazily kicking his legs back and forth. “Have you even tried unpacking?” Wonshik asked, stepping gingerly around a tall martini glass half full of cereal that had been abandoned on the floor. “It’s just… this isn’t anything like your old place.”

“Binnie was the neat freak, not me,” the hacker snapped, rolling on his side and staring at the doctor, his eyes flashing. Before Wonshik had a chance to respond, something very fluffy and very white streaked across his path, disappearing into the kitchen and scaring the doctor half to death.

Jaehwan sighed, a loud sound full of annoyance, before he pushed himself up and walked right past the doctor, following the white blur with his kimono fluttering behind him. It _was_ a kimono, Wonshik thought, that style of robe was called a kimono. He was eighty percent sure. “Cat! Come back here! Don’t be rude to our _guest_ ,” the hacker said firmly, ducking behind the kitchen island and reappearing with something furry clutched against his chest.

“You… you got a cat?” Wonshik asked, taken aback as the hacker approached him. “I didn’t get _anything_. She was delivered yesterday by your _charming_ second in command. A present from the dark overlord himself, it seems.” The creature was undoubtedly beautiful, long pure white fur with a tiny pink nose and enormous blue eyes. A Persian, the doctor thought. 

Wonshik reached out, letting the cat sniff at his hand before petting her soft pink ears. “What’s her name?” he asked, a smile crossing his face as he heard her begin to purr. “Her name is Cat. And she absolutely despises me,” Jaehwan replied, giving the fluffy animal in his arms a disdainful look. The cat regarded him with equal haughtiness, before letting out a high-pitched meow and squirming until Jaehwan let her go.

“That’s the only good thing about cats. You can drop them, and they are totally fine. That, and the fact that they don’t need to go for walks every five minutes,” the hacker said musingly, watching Cat scurry over to a pink bed by the floor-to-ceiling window and plop down in a ray of sunshine. “So, you’re here on business? This isn’t a social visit?” Jaehwan asked, eyeing the medical bag in the doctor’s hand and brushing fur off his robe.

“Yes, and would you mind putting actual clothes on?” Wonshik asked, looking pointedly upwards so he wouldn’t start drooling. “That’s a shame, I thought _you_ at least might have missed me a little,” Jaehwan replied, flouncing back over to his bed. “And no, I will not. This is my home, for lack of a better word, and I will wear what I choose. If you don’t like it, get out.”

Wonshik took a breath. He was a _doctor_ , for god sake, a half-naked boy in a robe shouldn’t faze him. “I did miss you. We all miss you actually. I’ve been texting you and trying to call you, but you never answer,” he said, following the path Cat had taken through the maze of detritus and coming to stand by the foot of the mattress.

“My phone is dead, I don’t know where the charger is, and I honestly can’t be bothered to look for it,” Jaehwan replied, his eyes glued to the tv. “Seriously, Jyani, are you okay?” Wonshik asked, picking up the remote and switching the anime off. The hacker was never without his phone, and the doctor couldn’t imagine what kind of mental state he was in that it being dead for three days wouldn’t matter.

Jaehwan eyed him, momentarily angry, but then he just seemed to give up. He rolled on to his back, lying upside down with his feet on a pillow, and stretched luxuriously. It reminded the doctor strongly of something a cat would do. He blinked up at Wonshik, black silk fanned out around him, the back of his hand covering his mouth, completely still for a moment before letting his arm fall to the side and baring his throat. “Do what you came to do and leave. I don’t want to take up any more of your precious time than I already have.”

Wonshik knelt down, unable to stop himself from brushing his thumb across the hacker’s cheek. “You aren’t okay, are you?” he asked quietly, watching Jaehwan’s eyes flutter shut. “I am not suited to being alone.”

“Hurry up and inject me, I’m numb enough that it shouldn’t hurt too badly,” the hacker said, filling the silence that fell after his last remark. The doctor sighed, feeling the mattress dip beneath him as he sat next to Jaehwan’s head. “Has anyone else come to see you?” he asked, opening his bag, taking out an alcohol swab, and unwrapping it.

“Hakyeon, when he dropped off Cat, but I didn’t let him in. And, Seokjin was here two days ago, but I didn’t let him in either.” Wonshik swiped the alcohol over the usual spot, before setting it on the ground and reaching into his bag for the syringe. “Why is there a piercing gun in your kitchen?”

“I’ve always liked piercings. I used to have an eyebrow ring, did I tell you?” the hacker replied absently, snaking his arm around Wonshik’s calf and holding on tight. “I didn’t know that,” the doctor lied, lining the needle up with Jaehwan’s vein. “3, 2, 1.”

It was over quickly, Jaehwan squeezing his leg like a human tourniquet as he removed the needle and pressed a square of gauze against the injection site. “All done, hold this here,” the doctor murmured. The hacker released him slowly, holding the gauze in place while Wonshik capped the needle and dropped it back in his bag. He took out a band-aid and stuck it in place of the gauze, putting that back in his bag as well. Both would need to go in the biohazard container when he got back to the mansion.

Jaehwan’s breathing was shaky, his eyes still shut, and his forehead pressed against the doctor’s shin. “How do you stand getting pierced when you hate shots so much?” the doctor asked, his fingers carding through the hacker’s hair. “Piercing is supposed to hurt. I know that I’m essentially stabbing a tiny knife through my body and leaving it there. Shots are just too invasive, and they always leave something intangible behind.”

Wonshik didn’t know how to make sense of or reply to that, so he stayed quiet and closed his bag. He didn’t want Cat to accidentally dive into it- as cats are known to do occasionally- and hurt herself. Speaking of Cat, it seemed like she felt her new owners stress and had slunk silently onto the bed, curling against Jaehwan’s side and starting to purr. “What do you want, furry vacuum? I know there’s food in your bowl,” the hacker said, cracking one eye open and looking down at his pet.

“Animals can sense people’s feelings. She’s trying to comfort you,” Wonshik replied, speaking on Cat’s behalf and _not_ looking at the subtlety defined muscles of the hacker’s abdomen. “Don’t be silly, darling,” Jaehwan said, scooping Cat up and holding her over his face. “Daddy is fine, go run along and kill some mice for me.”

Cat booped Jaehwan’s nose with her little paw, successfully making the hacker smile before he set her back on the bed and she scampered off. “My daughter is very strange, pay her no attention,” he continued, pushing himself up to a sitting position and cracking his neck. “I forgot to ask; do you want something to drink? Redbull? Vodka? I’m not used to hosting.”

Wonshik stood and looked at him, unable to stop himself from taking Jaehwan in. The sharp line of his jaw, the subtle arch of his dark eyebrow, the gentle curve of his waist. He had made the right choice, turning Jung Taekwoon’s offer down. He could have never lived with himself if he betrayed this exquisite, lovable person. The doctors throat felt a bit dry, but he cleared it and shook his head.

“Well then,” the hacker murmured, adjusting so he knelt in front of the doctor. “Are you leaving, or do you want to help me properly?” The insinuation was plain, but Wonshik tried to act as if he didn’t catch it. “Is keeping you alive not enough?” he asked, mesmerized by the dark eyes staring up at him. “Not really. Not when I don’t have much to live for.”

The doctor’s heart stuttered painfully in his chest, and he sunk down, so he and the hacker were face to face. “Please don’t say things like that. _Please_ ,” he replied, cupping Jaehwan’s cheeks before he could overthink it. “Sorry,” the hacker said quietly, leaning in and pressing their lips together.

Wonshik’s restraint fell away in an instant, overwhelmed with the need to hold Jaehwan, touch him. Feel that lithe body under his hands. Memories of hasty kisses and frantic hands flashed in the doctor’s mind. He and Jaehwan, in the medical ward the day before he left, drinking each other in until Sanghyuk inevitably came and collected the hacker.

Jaehwan’s skin was velvet soft, even softer than the thin fabric of his robe, now sliding off his shoulders and pooling around his elbows. Wonshik gripped Jaehwan’s tiny waist, pulling him so their chests were flush.

The quick beat of Jaehwan’s heart was noticeable when they were so close. “Mm… Wonshikie… you wanna fuck me, yeah?” the hacker purred, his arms looping around the doctor’s neck. The words were spoken quietly, against the doctor’s mouth, and Wonshik shivered.

“Do you?” Jaehwan repeated, when he got no verbal response the first time. “Ye-yes,” the doctor stuttered, his fingers running up and down the hacker’s torso. Did Jaehwan seriously think he would refuse?

Jaehwan hummed happily, tugging on the hem of Wonshik’s shirt like an impatient child. “I finally get to see your tattoos,” he murmured, sitting back on the mattress and watching the doctor strip. “Why do you have to be so beautiful all the time? It’s not fair,” Wonshik mumbled, his eyes never leaving Jaehwan’s face.

The hacker grinned evilly, crooking a finger to beckon the doctor closer. “What kind of things do you like, baby?” Wonshik asked, wrapping his fingers around the waistband of Jaehwan’s red lace and easily tugging it off as Jaehwan lay back on the bed. He caught his breath at the sight, the hacker’s long, smooth legs stretched out before him, his body completely and perfectly hairless.

“I like what ever you give me. Rough or gentle, I don’t care. Just _use_ me.”

Wonshik groaned, picturing the hacker’s plush lips stretched around his length. He wanted to feel that again, definitely, but right now, all he wanted to do was make Jaehwan feel good. Feel _something_.

Jaehwan spread his legs shamelessly, stretching his arms over his head. The doctor just sat and gawked for a full five seconds. “You… you’re plugged?” he managed, eyes sliding in and out of focus as he stared at the clear gem protruding from between the hacker’s cheeks. “Yes,” Jaehwan purred, drawing out the word and spreading his legs further apart. “And we aren’t going to get anywhere until you take it out. Unless… you want me to fuck you instead.”

Wonshik shook his head. That scenario was something to consider, but another time. Hesitantly, the doctor palmed the inside of Jaehwan’s milky thigh, pushing his leg down against the mattress. His fingers barely brushed the toy’s exposed base, but even that slight motion made Jaehwan whine quietly.

Wonshik gripped the toy more firmly and gently began to pull it out. He stared at the pinkness, Jaehwan’s rim stretching around the clear toy until it slid all the way out. A pretty little gape remained, still slick with the lube used to help get it there in the first place.

“You didn’t forget I was coming, did you?” the doctor asked, returning his attention to the whimpering hacker’s face with some effort. Jaehwan shook his head, his parted lips curving up in a small smile. “I wanted to make sure you’d stay.”

“Cute,” Wonshik murmured, his hand coming to rest on the hacker’s boney hip. “C’mon Wonshikie, fuck me,” Jaehwan murmured, fingers skittering across the words tattooed on the doctor’s collarbone. He rolled over onto his stomach, gracefully sliding back until he was on all fours, his back arching sensually.

Wonshik swallowed thickly, staring at the hacker’s full and perky ass that was being presented to him like a gift. “I want to see your face,” he said, looking up at the back of Jaehwan’s brunette head. The hacker tilted his face in the doctor’s direction, a tiny smirk playing on his lips as he pointed to the mirror-covered wall. “That’s what those are for.”

The doctor’s hands circled Jaehwan’s narrow waist once more, reveling in the fact that this was happening to him. Jaehwan wanted to sleep with _him_. Had dolled himself up for _Wonshik_ , and Wonshik alone. This was his boy with lace covered eyes for sure. The playful, dangerous, _oh so tempting_ boy, who’s charm worked on the doctor like magic.

Carefully, Wonshik guided the tip of his hard cock to the hacker’s entrance, probing it teasingly, experimentally. Jaehwan whimpered, the doctor’s tongue unconsciously running across his bottom lip at the sound. Slowly, he pushed past the hacker’s rim, instantly enveloped by the wet heat.

Both groaned at the sudden connection, Jaehwan’s thighs starting to tremble just the tiniest bit. Wonshik glanced in the mirror, noting the furrow of Jaehwan’s brow, his expression contorted in pleasure. “Is it ok?” the doctor asked, ever gentle, staying still to let the hacker adjust to the sizable intrusion.

“Yeah… it-it’s good, very good,” the hacker replied, breathless as he met Wonshik’s eyes in the mirror. Without giving any warning, the doctor snapped his hips forward, watching Jaehwan’s mouth fall open in a silent gasp. He did it again, sinking all the way into the hacker’s warm cavity, earning a strangled sort of moan.

The pace he set was slow but demanding, hips moving in a fluid rhythm as he traced circles around the dimples on Jaehwan’s back. “ _Fuck_ ,” the hacker whined, dropping to his forearms and canting his ass up to grant Wonshik better access.

“How d-does someone as thin as you… have such a thick ass?” Wonshik asked, the question impulsive. He was mesmerized by the sight of his length being swallowed up between Jaehwan’s cheeks. “Squats,” Jaehwan replied shakily, fisting his hands into the mattress’s fitted sheet.

It really shouldn’t have surprised the doctor, how well Jaehwan took his cock, but it did. The way his lean muscles flexed under Wonshik’s hands with each thrust. Jaehwan was utterly perfect, Wonshik thought, returning his gaze to the mirror. It showed a pretty picture, the hacker’s small body bent low, his cheek pressing into the mattress, his beautiful lips parted as he whimpered.

“You’re so good baby, so pretty like this,” the doctor praised, reminding himself that Jaehwan liked compliments. He was instantly rewarded with a small smile curving the hacker’s mouth as he rolled his hips back, working himself closer to the doctor with every movement.

The mirrors were great, but Wonshik wanted something else. Something more intimate. He pulled out, Jaehwan squeaking in protest as the doctor’s hand came to rest on his shoulder blade. “On your back,” he said firmly, the depth of his own voice catching him off guard. He’d guessed the hacker might like being told what to do, and he was right.

Jaehwan rolled onto his back immediately, his legs falling open as he pulled the doctor down on top of him. Wonshik entered him once more, propping himself up on one arm as the trailed his mouth across Jaehwan’s sternum. “So beautiful,” he murmured, feeling the hacker’s legs wrap around his middle, Jaehwan’s fingers tangling themselves in his hair.

Wonshik was being gentle, carefully so, the way he’d pictured in his Jaehwan-filled fantasies. And just like in those fantasies, Jaehwan relaxed under him, the boy with lace covered eyes replaced with the cute, wriggling hacker he’d met a little over a month ago. It was everything he hoped it would be, and more.

“Am I good? Do I feel good, Wonshikie?” Jaehwan asked, panting shallowly, his dark lashes fluttering as he peered up at the doctor. His eyes were glazed with pleasure, and Wonshik began fucking into him a little faster. “Yes baby, so _so_ good. You’re perfect,” he replied, ears ringing with the hacker’s high-pitched whines as they echoed off the high ceiling.

Jaehwan’s body jerked, keening loudly, and the doctor knew he had hit that sensitive bundle of nerves. Wonshik tilted his head down to kiss the breath from Jaehwan’s lungs, lifting one of the hacker’s legs onto his shoulder. The new angle created made it easy for the doctor to hit that spot over and over, abusing the hacker’s prostate.

“D-do you love me? Tell me you lo-love me,” Jaehwan whimpered, cupping the doctor’s cheeks. His chocolate doe eyes were pleading, looking up at the doctor and worrying his bottom lip between his teeth.

The doctor understood the desire behind the question. Jaehwan thrived on adoration, in constant need of compliments and sweet words. But he had essentially been in solitary confinement for the past three days, and if Wonshik had to guess, that would be the hacker’s personal form of hell. He wasn’t going to lie to Jaehwan, not when the hacker was so obviously desperate for the truth.

“Yes baby, I love you. You are the most perfect person in the entire world, and I love you with all of my heart,” Wonshik replied, humming the words into Jaehwan’s palm. The hacker mewled at a particularly sharp thrust, and he lifted his head to capture the doctor’s lips in a fevered, open mouthed kiss.

Wonshik felt the heat building in the pit of his stomach, his movements becoming quick and sloppy. Jaehwan beat him to the punch, whining something that sounded like _‘oh fuck Wonshikie fuck yes fuck’ -_ the doctor wasn’t completely sure- as he came on his own bare stomach.

The doctor was about to pull out, but Jaehwan circled his arms tightly around the doctor’s neck, panting, “Come inside me, fill me up, _please_.” The sheer filthiness of those words, uttered in the hacker’s sweet voice, was all the prompting Wonshik needed. He came hard, painting Jaehwan’s insides white, his face hidden in the crook of the moaning hacker’s neck.

They stayed like that for an unknown amount of time, long limbs tangled together as they basked in post-orgasm glow. When Wonshik had finally regained his strength, he pulled out and lay on his side next to Jaehwan, brushing the hacker’s sweat dampened hair off his forehead.

“Did you lie?” the hacker asked, trailing two fingers through his own come pooled on his stomach. He turned his wide eyes on the doctor, sucking the white liquid off his fingers almost absently. It took the doctor’s brain several seconds to process the question, too focused on how Jaehwan’s kiss swollen lips looked wrapped around his knuckles.

Wonshik blinked, clearing the very dirty thoughts from his mind before he answered, “No, of course I didn’t.” Jaehwan grinned, pulling his fingers from his mouth with a pop that bordered on obscene. “Good, but did you know you’re _very_ sexy?” the hacker replied, happily tracing the tattoo on the doctor’s wrist.

“Yes,” Wonshik murmured, sitting up and pulling Jaehwan into his arms. “Where’s the bathroom? You need a shower,” he continued, lifting the hacker as he stood up. “Which one? I have like six bathrooms,” Jaehwan replied, his eyes forming little crescents as his smile widened.

The doctor chuckled, whispering _cute_ under his breath as he kissed the tip of Jaehwan’s nose. “The closest one is down that hall. I haven’t even been upstairs yet.” Wonshik turned in the direction he was pointing, nearly tripping over Cat as he stepped off the bed. “Darling don’t look! Daddy isn’t wearing anything!” Jaehwan exclaimed, flapping his hands at the furry creature so wildly that Wonshik nearly dropped him.

Cat scampered away, and thankfully Jaehwan stopped flailing long enough to point to the correct door. “When we’re done, you can pick out new underwear for me and we need to find my charger,” he said happily, pressing his lips all over the doctor’s face. “Panties, not underwear. Call a spade a spade.”

\---

“Sanghyuk! You need to see this!” Hakyeon said loudly, using the door in their shared wall and almost running into the criminal’s office. “What? What’s the matter?” Sanghyuk asked, looking up from a stack of papers on his desk, bewildered.

“I just got off the phone with your publicist!” the second in command replied, pulling a remote out of the criminal’s desk drawer and turning on the small tv in the corner of the room. “It’s _bad!_ It’s bad for so many reasons!”

Hakyeon flipped hastily through the channels until he found the one he was looking for. The news. A classically handsome anchor was in the middle of speaking, a full body picture of a skinny goth kid in the frame next to him.

“That looks like,” Sanghyuk said, rising from his chair and approaching the screen, but Hakyeon shushed him. “Listen!”

_‘-relationship was reported in various online news articles almost a month ago. The cyber security consultant is well known in the tech community, and he has even worked for the government on several occasions. It’s hard to reconcile the image of this degenerate boy with the smartly dressed man in those pictures, isn’t it?’_

The image next to the anchor changed, now showing one of Sanghyuk and blonde Jaehwan in a restaurant.

_‘It was difficult for our team to see the resemblance as well, but,’_

It switched back to the original, an unbelievably skinny boy with black hair and an eyebrow ring, dark eyeliner smudged artfully in his lash line. The boy had on nothing but a silk robe, tied loosely around his narrow waist, the pale skin of his chest and legs on full display.

_‘This is, in fact, the same Lee Jaehwan. Back when he had something very unsavory on his resume. Just nineteen years old, the consultant was known by another name. Ken. And he was something called a Cammer.’_

Sanghyuk sucked in a breath, but Hakyeon couldn’t look away from the tv. He had just noticed the tagline under the image: ‘Playboy Politician’s Pornstar Scandal’

_‘He participated in a type of pornography that we will not describe here in order to save our viewers from offense, but suffice it to say that it is very graphic in nature, and clips of “Ken” are still circulating around the internet.’_

_‘Everyone’s favorite political rising star, Han Sanghyuk, has not yet released a statement about his alleged boyfriend’s sorted past. How long have they been seeing each other? Did Mr. Han know, or was he tricked into a relationship by the devious Ken?’_

_‘Lee Jaehwan was spotted by paparazzi three days ago, leaving a convenient store with bodyguards in tow, and you can see that he is slowly dropping his polished persona. He is brunette once again, a fake blonde no more.’_

The image changed again, and it was indeed Jaehwan in his most recent form. His dark hair ruffled by a breeze and his hands in the pockets of a long black coat. The two guards Hakyeon set to watch him were a step behind, each holding a very full looking shopping bag.

_‘The consultant has not made a statement either, but an inside source told our reporter that Mr. Lee had been working under contract for our government during these explicit escapades. More on this story as it develops.’_

Hakyeon switched the tv off, turning to look worriedly at his friend. Sanghyuk was standing completely still, hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Hyoggie…” Hakyeon said tentatively, after the silence in the office had stretched on for too long.

“That stupid fucking idiot!” the criminal shouted, making the second in command jump. Sanghyuk stomped back around his desk and sank into his chair, opening his laptop with much more force than necessary. Hakyeon hurried to look over his shoulder, watching as the criminal clicked an internet window and typed _‘Lee Jaehwan, Ken, cams’_ into the search bar.

The first link that appeared was troublingly titled ‘<3 Ken<3: Live Cams and Premium Photos – Subscribe for More’ with a URL for a porn site highlighted in blue underneath. Sanghyuk didn’t hesitate before he clicked it, and was redirected to a garishly pink home page, little black hearts decorating the background. A video right in the center of the screen began playing automatically.

It was the goth kid, a giant fluffy blue bathrobe falling off one shoulder and a strip of black lace tied around his neck, sitting on a white carpeted floor. The kid bore such a striking resemblance to the hacker it was almost scary, but they couldn’t really be the same person, could they?

“Hello, my babies, how are all of you doing today?” emanated from the laptop’s speakers, Jaehwan’s unmistakably musical voice filling the office as the boy on the screen waved playfully.

“Fuck!” Sanghyuk growled, slamming his laptop shut and spinning his chair around to glare at the second in command. “Hyoggie this is so bad! Your reputation is in trouble, and we don’t know who else could have seen that report! The… the bad guys may have missed the tabloid articles, but they couldn’t have missed _this_. The fact that you’re connected to a notorious hacker is now common knowledge! Literally everything and everyone is at risk,” Hakyeon babbled, potential consequences rolling through his mind like a rolodex.

“Get your coat, we are going to see him. I need to talk to him. _Now_.”

**Chapter 27: The Scandal**   
**Summary:**

**“I’m very popular, especially with women,” Sanghyuk replied, without any of his usual menace. He was just starting at the floor, seemingly deep in thought.**

  
**Notes:**

**To everyone who reads this, thank you for putting up with my weird, drama filled rambling. writing this is story is really fun for me, and it lets me escape the bullshit of daily life for a while, so I hope reading it at least entertains you a little. Your comments make my day <3**

**anyway, onto the chapter!**

  
**End Notes:**

***I have nothing against people who do cams. it pays well and people can make money how ever they damn well please***

_ The Scandal: _

“How could he have been that _stupid?”_ Sanghyuk asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

He and Hakyeon were in the elevator of Jaehwan’s building, their body guards downstairs dealing with the reporters that had followed them as soon as they left the mansion. This honestly shouldn’t even be that much of a surprise, Jaehwan doing porn. It seemed like an inevitable consequence of his particularly horny and attention seeking disposition, but that didn’t make the criminal hate it any less.

“If my mother calls you, under _no_ circumstances are to speak to her, understand?” he asked sharply, glaring at his second as they stepped from the elevator. Hakyeon nodded, and then Sanghyuk rounded on the two men stationed at the penthouse door.

“Open it, use the emergency key,” he snapped, staring ferociously at them. “Uh, Sir... Mr. Lee is pretty busy at the moment and he told us not to let anyone in,” the man on the left said, looking justifiably terrified. “Do you think I give a shit about Mr. Lee’s schedule?! Open it!”

“But sir! Mr. Cha gave us strict orders to only follow Mr. Lee’s instructions and nobody else,” the man on the right replied. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Sanghyuk was glad that his men were so steadfast in Jaehwan’s protection, but he didn’t have the time nor the patience to applaud them for it right now.

“If you do not unlock that door in the next ten seconds, I will personally cut off your heads and serve them to your families on a platter, am I making myself clear?” the criminal growled, perfectly enunciating each word.

The man on the right nearly dropped the key in his haste to open the doors, the sound of tinkling laughter reaching Sanghyuk’s ears through the wall. The lock clicked, and the guard stepped away before Sanghyuk flung it open and stomped in, Hakyeon close on his heels.

The sight that greeted him nearly made the criminals heart stop beating.

Jaehwan was, for all intents and purposes, naked. His open robe and black underwear could barely be counted as clothing, and his slightly damp hair hung down on his forehead. He was sitting on a shirtless guys lap, _Wonshik’s_ lap, Sanghyuk realized, holding a fluffy cat in his arms. The doctor was propped up on a few pillows, his stupid hands on Jaehwan’s hips as the hacker poked his face with the cat’s paws. There was stuff everywhere, the living room smelling like sex and Jaehwan’s lavender body wash.

Both had turned at the sound of the door opening, Wonshik looking panicked where Jaehwan just looked annoyed. “Why the fuck are you barging into my penthouse? Again!” the hacker asked, his voice extra loud so he could be heard across the giant room.

“Why the fuck is your dick all over the internet?” Sanghyuk retorted, walking further into the apartment and trying not to step on anything. Jaehwan went still, the cat Sanghyuk had chosen for him wriggling out of his arms and running down one of the darkened hallways. “What?” the hacker asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

“Your dick, and ass, on a cam website. Or, should I say _Ken’s_ dick and ass on a cam website,” the criminal replied, stopping halfway into the room and letting his glare flick in the doctor’s direction for a split second. To his satisfaction, Wonshik flinched and looked away.

Jaehwan dropped his hands on Wonshik’s chest, using the doctor to push himself up before stepping light off the bed. “I was going through a difficult time, why does it matter? How did you even find that?” the hacker asked, avoiding eye contact and taking the long way around the living room to the kitchen.

Wonshik trailed after him, looking incredibly uncomfortable, his hands in the pockets of his fitted jeans. The doctor’s hair was wet as well, they must have showered together. Fantastic. “I found it because it was on the fucking news, Jaehwan!” Sanghyuk said, doing his best to keep his voice even and failing miserably.

The criminal watched Jaehwan crack open a can of redbull and lean against the kitchen island. He handed to drink to Wonshik who stood at his side, before finally turning his eyes on the criminal. “Seokjin was on it too, why isn’t he in trouble?”

“Because, _sweetheart_ ,” the pet name escaping Sanghyuk’s mouth in a hiss. “Seokjin is not a public figure, he isn’t rumored to be my boyfriend, and he doesn’t look like goth-trash jailbait!”

Jaehwan bristled, his shoulder’s tensing visibly. “Excuse me?” he asked, his voice dropping to that low growl for the second time in Sanghyuk’s memory. It was completely unnerving, but the criminal didn’t let it show. “You heard me! You looked like some barely-legal sugar baby that caters exclusively to old men with severe depression! And _now_ , we both have to make a public statement about it and deal with the thirty fucking reporters downstairs!”

Sanghyuk was lying through his teeth. Even at 19, Jaehwan had that certain _something_ , that charm that the criminal found absolutely irresistible. He had been able to see it in just the few seconds of the video he had watched on that website, and he hated the fact that the hacker could affect him that way even through a camera. It must have been right around the time Jung fucking Taekwoon broke into his compound, and Sanghyuk finally understood how Wonshik had been so enchanted by his ‘guy with lace eyes’ or whatever the fuck he called past-Jaehwan.

“Hey,” Wonshik said, his deep voice tinged with the barest hint of anger. “Shut it, you aren’t involved in this,” Hakyeon replied, commanding as always, but the criminal waved a hand to quiet him. “Did you know? You two are always whispering to each other, it must have come up at some point,” Sanghyuk hissed, stomping into the kitchen and facing his best friend across the island.

The doctor swallowed audibly, fizzy drink forgotten. “No, I’m not even sure what you’re talking about,” he replied, unconsciously resting his free hand on the hackers back. “Stop touching him,” the criminal snapped, trying to make his voice as menacing as possible.

“It’s not something I go around _bragging_ about, Sanghyuk. I used a fake name for a fucking reason! And don’t tell him what to do!” Jaehwan replied angrily. He finally seemed to remember that he was almost naked and wrapped his open robe tight around himself. It was nearly identical to the one he wore in the photo on the news, and Sanghyuk wondered if they were one in the same.

“So, what are you going to tell the reporters? Oops I did porn, so sorry it won’t happen again?” Sanghyuk asked, his tone turning mocking as he braced his palms on the granite island.

They were in the _kitchen_. The kitchen in which Jaehwan said he couldn’t love Sanghyuk. That it was all too fresh, that he couldn’t give the criminal what he wanted. The only occasion in Sanghyuk’s memory that the hacker had comforted him. Before Sanghyuk had gone and ruined it. How was it possible to be so angry, and yet still want a person _so much?!_

Jaehwan took a sip from the can in Wonshik’s hand, his Adam’s apple bobbing when he swallowed, painting all sorts of _filthy_ images in the criminal’s mind. “I don’t know! Why do I have to make a statement at all?! Why do you fucking care?”

Sanghyuk tried his absolute hardest not to lose the rest of his temper, but the majority of it was already out the window. “Everyone thinks I’m dating a porn star!” the criminal replied, fixing the hacker with narrowed eyes. “How do _you_ not care that your now publicly branded as a whore?!”

—-

Wonshik was... anxious would be putting it mildly. He wanted to crawl out of his skin and hide somewhere dark and quiet with a pack of cigarettes.

Jaehwan had tied his robe around his waist, the side of his hip resting against the doctor’s as he and Sanghyuk shouted at each other across the kitchen island. The doctor wanted to help, wanted to take the hacker’s side, but he didn’t know how. He didn’t fully understand what the argument was actually about to begin with.

“It’s associated with your real name now! Look!” the criminal was saying loudly, pulling out his phone and clicking on something. The unmistakable sound of Jaehwan’s voice, a little higher than usual, began to play from the phone’s speaker.

The hacker froze, listening to his own voice say, “Do you wanna play with me? Do you want me to play with myself?” Sanghyuk clicked again, presumably pausing the recording because the voice died away. “Look at this,” he continued, holding the screen up for Wonshik and Jaehwan to see. Like the voice, the boy in the video was obviously a much younger Jaehwan. One of his hands was frozen in the act of running through his wavy black hair, his eyebrow arched playfully, the silver ring on it glinting in the rooms dim light. His skinny legs were folded underneath him, his other hand hidden in the folds of a fluffy bathrobe.

Wonshik stared at the screen, mesmerized. It was his boy with lace covered eyes, only now the lace was tied around his neck like a choker. “I know what I used to look like! I know what I did, why are you showing this to me?!” Jaehwan exclaimed, turning his face away and tapping his nails on the counter.

“Go talk this out in private, we’ll wait here,” Hakyeon said, his firm tone leaving no room for argument as he pushed a furious Sanghyuk out of the kitchen and down a hallway. “You too nerd, come on,” he called over his shoulder, and Jaehwan huffed out an angry breath but turned to follow.

“You don’t need to explain yourself to anyone,” Wonshik murmured, gently catching the hacker’s hand. Jaehwan stopped, his frustrated expression softening for a moment as he kissed the doctor on the cheek. “Thank you, but it seems like I have to do just that.”

He was gone a moment later, hurrying down the hall after the criminal. A door slammed, and then Hakyeon reappeared, looking at the doctor with irritation. “I thought you were just here to give him his shot,” the second in command said, fishing a bottle of air freshener out of one of the boxes and spraying it around the living room.

The shouting started up again from the other room, and Wonshik flinched. He had never liked confrontation, and the moments of bravery he had in the face of his best friend’s anger were few and far between. He wished he could be stronger, stand up to Sanghyuk the way he knew he should.

“This situation is more of a mess than this penthouse,” the second in command muttered, glaring around at the boxes like they were causing him personal offense. “Jae isn’t doing great on his own, cut him some slack,” Wonshik replied, taking a sip of the redbull the hacker had given him and grimacing at the sweetness. “Is that why you slept with him instead of just giving him his medicine like you were supposed too?”

Why had he slept with Jaehwan again? Because he loved him? Because Jaehwan had offered and Wonshik was completely powerless to refuse? Because the hacker had looked so incredibly sad and the doctor _needed_ to put a smile back on his beautiful face? A little of all three, Wonshik thought, but he said aloud, “We’re consenting adults and it’s none of your business.”

“If it hurts Hyoggie, then you bet your ass it’s my business,” Hakyeon snapped, filling a mug he found on top of the fridge with water. Cat appeared, winding herself around the doctor’s legs and meowing until Wonshik picked her up. “She came with a certificate of authenticity, you know, like a fucking collectable. A pure breed Persian. She cost Sanghyuk an amount of money that I personally find absurd, but he insisted,” the second in command said, nodding at Cat and taking a sip of his water.

Wonshik nuzzled Cat’s ear, grinning at her soft purring. “Did you notice Jaehwan is still wearing the watch Hyoggie gave him, or were you too caught up in staring at his ass?” Hakyeon asked, picking up the piercing gun Wonshik had commented on earlier and inspecting it. The doctor hadn’t noticed _actually_ , other parts of Jaehwan’s body took up too much of his attention, but he stayed quiet.

The phone in the doctor’s pocket suddenly began to buzz, and he switched Cat to the crook of his other arm to take it out. Hongbin had texted.

_‘I’m at Jae’s building, but he’s not answering my calls and there are reporters everywhere. Can you call him and tell him to buzz me in so I can take the elevator? I need to talk to him, his mom is losing her shit.’_

“Oh god damn it,” Wonshik muttered, setting his phone on the counter. He wasn’t just going to let the gamer in without telling Jaehwan. That would only end badly. “They’ve stopped shouting,” Hakyeon said conversationally, eyeing the doctor over the edge of his mug. “That’s good, because I have to ask Jae a question,” the doctor replied, handing Cat to the second in command and hurrying down the hall.

“I wouldn’t do that, if I were you!” Hakyeon called after him, but Wonshik was already opening the only closed door in the hallway.

It shouldn’t really have come as a shock, but the doctor hastily averted his eyes. Sanghyuk had Jaehwan up against a wall, one hand on the hacker’s cheek and the other on his hip. Jaehwan’s silk robe was open once again, and he seemed to be in the process of unbuttoning Sanghyuk’s shirt when the doctor interrupted.

“Good talk?” the doctor asked, crossing his arms and suppressing the twinge of hurt he felt. Jaehwan gave him a look somewhere between guilt and regret, but his best friend didn’t even glance his way. “Get out,” the criminal snapped, speaking the words against the hacker’s neck, but Wonshik stood his ground.

“Jyani, Hongbin is here. He said something about your mom, and he wants you to buzz him in.” Hakyeon appeared at Wonshik’s side and snickered. “Can this day get anymore awful!?” Jaehwan exclaimed, slipping out of Sanghyuk’s hold and retying his robe. He patted the doctor’s cheek as he walked past, adding, “Not you, you’re the best part by far. Everyone else just sucks.”

Sanghyuk made an angry noise, but Wonshik didn’t care. He trailed after the hacker with a stupid grin on his face, feeling unjustifiably happy in the warm glow of Jaehwan’s affection. They reached the door, and the hacker pressed a button on a white box that was mounted at eye level on the wall. It had a little screen, and the gamer’s face appeared, looking extremely worried.

“Binnie, what do you want?” the hacker asked, leaning against Wonshik’s chest. Hongbin’s eyes snapped to what was presumably a camera, and he whispered, “Let me in, your mom has called me at least 15 times and these people wont stop taking my picture.” Jaehwan sighed, defeated, before pressing a green button. Hongbin looked around and then disappeared from view as the hacker cracked the front door open. “A very handsome guy with a slightly bruised face will be here shortly. Let him in,” he said curtly, shutting the door without waiting for an answer.

Jaehwan dragged Wonshik back to the kitchen by the hand, fixing Sanghyuk with an icy stare. “If you start a fight, so help me god, I will stab you both,” he hissed, brandishing his piercing gun in the criminal’s direction before taking a sip of Wonshik’s redbull. “Tell _him_ that,” Sanghyuk snapped, just as the double doors flew open.

“Baby, what the hell is going on?!” Hongbin exclaimed, nearly tripping over a karaoke machine on the floor in his haste. “Fantastic,” Sanghyuk hissed, turning and starting to rummage through the hacker’s fridge. “First thing’s first, no fighting,” Jaehwan said, choosing to ignore the stream of curses the criminal was muttering under his breath.

Hongbin stared around at all of them, frozen in place, before his eyes settled on Wonshik. “Am I interrupting a party?” he asked, sounding so threatening that the doctor automatically dropped his hands from Jaehwan’s shoulders and looked away. “Yes, leave before you ruin the mood,” Sanghyuk replied, grabbing a can of something Wonshik didn’t recognize and leaning against the fridge.

“Zip it,” Jaehwan snapped, shooting the criminal a glare, before he continued, “Remember that stupid thing I was doing right before we met?” Hongbin’s brow furrowed, and he shrugged off his scarlet overcoat as he replied, “Yeah, I do. And I saw the news. How did this even happen? How did people find out?”

“So, you _did_ know that your boyfriend is a cam slut, I was curious,” the criminal said evenly, his voice just loud enough to carry. “Sanghyuk!” Wonshik exclaimed, too shocked to stop Jaehwan from trying to hit his best friend in the face. The criminal caught the hacker’s hand with seemingly no effort, and he shoved Jaehwan back in the doctor’s direction as Hongbin hissed, “Say something like that again, and I’ll fucking kill you.”

The gamer had taken several very fast steps into the kitchen, and Wonshik wrapped his arms around the hacker in case an actual fight broke out. “You need a muzzle,” Jaehwan exclaimed, glaring at the criminal before returning his attention to Hongbin. “I don’t know! Only you and Seokjinie knew about it, and I’m guessing also Taek since he’s so god damn nosey! But people are making a big deal about it because of _him_!”

Wonshik’s brain stopped. His heart probably stopped as well, but he couldn’t feel it. Taekwoon knew about this, Taekwoon who _‘made it his business to know as much about Jaehwan as he could’._ Of course, he would know. And of course, he would keep it a secret from Wonshik.

_‘You’d better choose quickly. Otherwise, things are going to get very messy for everyone involved, Jaehwan included.’_

Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, _oh shit._ Wonshik had made a mistake. A huge, awful, terrible mistake. He had turned Taekwoon’s offer down. He had refused to try and help him lure Jaehwan to their side. He had refused Taekwoon’s protection, the promise to keep Jaehwan safe from Sanghyuk and the danger that followed the criminal around like a shadow. Wonshik had turned Taekwoon down because he was selfish. Because he wanted Jaehwan to be at his side, danger be damned. He had been so unbelievably stupid. _This was all his fault._

“Wonshikie? Are you still with us?” the hacker’s voice asked. The doctor realized that he had missed a good portion of the discussion happening around him, too preoccupied with the guilt swimming in his head. He couldn’t tell them now. He _couldn’t_. If he was honest, he couldn’t tell because he was terrified of what Sanghyuk would do. And Hongbin. They were both so god damn scary!

The doctor looked down at Jaehwan’s concerned face and realized that he was hugging the hacker rather tightly. “Yeah, I- yeah, it’s just… a lot,” Wonshik managed, loosening his grip on the hacker a bit. Jaehwan smiled weakly up at him, before returning his attention to the gamer.

“You need to call my mom back. Tell her- _remind_ her that I had my nose pierced, not my eyebrow. She won’t be able to prove you wrong; I wasn’t speaking to her at the time so she wouldn’t know. Tell her it’s just some kid who looks a lot like me, and that I have a very high-profile new boyfriend that gets an overwhelming amount of media attention.”

Wonshik looked up just in time to see Sanghyuk wince. “Say that we were keeping our relationship secret, but one of Sanghyukkie’s political rivals is trying to use it for bad press. There’s no substance to it, none of its real.”

“So, lie to her?” Hongbin asked, uncertain. “Yes, lie without remorse, because after all that awful shit my dad put her through, I don’t want her to find out that her only kid is,” Jaehwan turned to stare at Sanghyuk, “Goth-trash jailbait?”

The criminal had the decency to look ashamed, if only the slightest bit. “Just go talk to her, she likes you way more than she likes me.” Hongbin hesitated but nodded after a moment. He turned and walked down one of the hallways as he pulled out his phone.

“Alright, that’s one thing taken care of. Now, what are _we_ going to do?” Jaehwan asked, rounding on Sanghyuk. “I don’t know. My publicist said we should stay away from each other and not acknowledge it, but it’s a bit late for that now considering the paparazzi followed me here.” The hacker squirmed a little, running the belt of his robe through his fingers and dropping his head on the doctor’s shoulder.

“Do you want to go and tell them that we were doing business together and nothing more? I’ll corroborate, I don’t want my mistakes to hurt your reputation.” Sanghyuk took a half step in Jaehwan’s direction, but then turned away. He had that look of anguish on his face again, Wonshik saw. The guilt bubbling like acid in the doctor’s stomach increased. He felt bad for Sanghyuk, of course he did. He knew how the criminal felt, and how painful this was for him, but Wonshik couldn’t stop his selfishness from taking over. He didn’t let Jaehwan go.

“I guess it’s probably best,” the criminal murmured, adjusting his suit jacket and schooling his features to cool blankness.

“That’s bullshit!” Hakyeon exclaimed, breaking his silence for the first time since Hongbin had arrived. Everyone turned to stare at the second in command, as he continued, “Don’t go out and deny it! If you do that, people will just dig up more dirt and then you’ll be in even worse trouble! Hyoggie, go down there and stand by your man!”

Wonshik blinked in surprise. Hakyeon advocating for that sort of proposal was the last thing he had expected, but he actually kind of agreed. “He’s right, it would be better,” the doctor said quietly, resting his cheek against Jaehwan’s temple. “People will admire you for it, don’t show the world that you’re easily intimidated.”

The criminal and the hacker exchanged glances. Sanghyuk seemed to be waiting for Jaehwan’s approval, and when the hacker nodded, he sighed in what sounded deceivingly like relief. “Now, the only question is if you two can stop trying to hate-fuck every five minutes and be civil long enough to pull that off,” Hakyeon said, grinning manically when both replied with a yes.

“Uh… I found this. I didn’t think you were serious,” Hongbin said, reentering the kitchen with Cat under one arm. “I calmed your mom down, and she’s actually a bit proud of you for having such good taste in guys. She’s a big fan of the baby psychopath, apparently.”

“I’m very popular, especially with women,” Sanghyuk replied, without any of his usual menace. He was just starting at the floor, seemingly deep in thought.

\---

Jaehwan had dressed in his most expensive suit, restyled his hair, and dabbed on a little makeup to hide his dark circles.

Much to Hongbin and Wonshik’s displeasure, the two of them would be staying up in the penthouse while Hakyeon would escort the fake couple down to the lobby. At the moment, the doctor was helping Jaehwan put on his long grey coat, his hands straying nervously to play with the hacker’s ears.

“It’s going to be fine,” Jaehwan said, reassuring himself as much as the doctor. In truth, he had absolutely no clue how this was going to go, and he was relying heavily on Sanghyuk’s experience to get them through it. He glanced at the criminal sidelong, unable to suppress a twinge of fondness as he watched the second in command fuss over Sanghyuk like an anxious mother.

“Ready to meet our doom?” the criminal asked, sounding resigned as he successfully got the second in command off him. Jaehwan swallowed hard, shimmying out of the doctors comforting embrace and taking the criminals hand. “If I’m walking into the fires of hell, at least Satan is coming with me,” the hacker replied, trying to make the criminal smile. It worked, but only a little.

Jaehwan understood the significance of what they were about to do. He knew that Sanghyuk’s words earlier had been from hurt rather than actual disgust, knew that the criminal cared more than he should. Putting on this act of being in a real relationship was hurting the criminal more than he showed. Pretending to be a happy couple when all they did now was fight. But Sanghyuk was taking the risk none the less, for Jaehwan’s sake more than his own, and the hacker didn’t know how to properly thank him for it.

Sanghyuk slid an arm around him as they stepped into the elevator, Jaehwan’s bodyguards flanking them and Hakyeon in front. “Don’t be nervous, let me do the talking. It will be over before you know it,” the criminal murmured, kissing Jaehwan’s temple and giving him a reassuring squeeze. “This is either going to go really well or _really_ fucking poorly,” the hacker whispered, taking a deep breath, his heart fluttering with nerves.

The elevator dinged softly, and the doors slid open, hitting the hacker with a tidal wave of noise and flashing lights. He gasped a little, his senses completely overwhelmed, but Sanghyuk didn’t flinch and led him into the lobby.

Jaehwan laced his fingers with the criminal’s free hand, suddenly very in need of support as Sanghyuk’s men formed a barrier between them and the reporters. Everyone was shouting questions at them, but the criminal didn’t speak. The hacker looked up at him, unsure of what to do. Sanghyuk’s face was perfectly blank, just the barest hint of fire behind his eyes. He was staring around at the crowed as if waiting for silence, and after a few moments, it fell. The criminal squeezed Jaehwan’s hand and then began to speak.

“I’m sure all of you are aware that someone has been publicizing things about Lee Jaehwan that they had no right to. I, for one, have been aware of this information from the start of our relationship, but it doesn’t change my feelings for Jaehwan in the slightest. I am firm in the belief that past mistakes should stay in the past,” Sanghyuk’s commanding voice said, easily carrying over the crowd. Cameras continued to flash, but he paid them no attention.

“As for the person clearly bent on destroying his reputation, be very careful. Another attempt to harm Jaehwan in _any_ way will have _grave_ consequences. That being said, I ask that all of you take Jaehwan’s right to privacy into consideration and do not harass him. Treat Jaehwan the way you would expect your own partner to be treated, with decency and respect. No further comments.”

The shouting erupted once again, and Jaehwan heard one reporter ask, “Mr. Lee, do you regret it?” Another yelled, “What about Jaehwan’s alleged relationship with the famous poker player Lee Hongbin?” The worst thing he heard as he was led away, was a deep masculine voice call, “Mr. Han! How does it feel knowing that your dating someone who put himself on display for the whole world to see?”

The criminal acknowledged nothing, keeping a firm hold on the hacker as they walked back to the elevators. Hakyeon was behind them now, Jaehwan’s guards walking backwards to keep an eye on the crowd. Jaehwan felt like he was going to crumble apart, fall to pieces right then and there. He needed quiet, needed silence. After days with no human contact, this sudden on slot of people was making his head spin unpleasantly.

He clung on to Sanghyuk for dear life, trying to keep his back straight and expression neutral until the doors shut behind his guards. Then, all his strength vanished, and his knees gave out, letting the criminal carry his weight. “Are you ok, sweetheart? I know that can be overwhelming,” Sanghyuk said softly, his intimidating aura gone as he hugged Jaehwan against him.

“You lied,” the hacker whispered, not trusting himself to speak at full volume.

“I know,” Sanghyuk replied, like it was nothing.

“You lied more than you had too.”

“I know.”

“Thank you,” Jaehwan said, his voice shaking as badly as his legs.

Hakyeon led them into the foyer and through the double doors, the bodyguards resuming their positions. Jaehwan heard his tv on somewhere in the background, but all he could focus on were the criminal’s strong arms around him. Sanghyuk was warm. Always so warm.

Jaehwan stumbled a little as he was pulled around the maze of still packed boxes, before the criminal lowered him gently onto his mattress. He looked around, seeing Wonshik and Hakyeon next to his flat screen, Hongbin’s perfectly toned arm appearing at his side. Or, no. His normally perfectly toned arm had lost a little of its definition.

The hacker turned his head, looking his gamer over and realizing that it wasn’t just his arms. All of Hongbin’s body looked a bit diminished. How could he have missed that before? “Binnie-ah,” he murmured, fighting to make himself heard over the tv. “You look thin. Is Taek not feeding you enough?”

“I’m alright baby, I’ve just been skipping the gym, that’s all,” Hongbin replied with a small smile. “Don’t call him that,” Sanghyuk snapped, from somewhere on Jaehwan’s other side. The hacker felt so drained, he barely had enough energy to say loudly, “No fighting!”

“Both of you, shut up and listen!” Hakyeon exclaimed, waving frantically at the screen. Jaehwan forced his eyes into focus. It was showing a recording of their statement, and the hacker was surprised at how he and the criminal looked from an outsider’s perspective. In Jaehwan’s opinion, he didn’t look like much. More like a scared kid than a world-famous cyber security consultant. But Sanghyuk… Sanghyuk was eye-catching. He looked so grown up, steadfast and immovable, with a kind of magnetism that made it nearly impossible for the hacker to look away.

Jaehwan hadn’t noticed in the moment, too out of his mind with anxiety, but he saw now that the criminal had turned away from the reporters at the end, watching the hacker with such obvious affection that it shocked Jaehwan. They had put on a good show, to be sure, all though Jaehwan tried not to dwell overmuch on the fact that Sanghyuk probably hadn’t been acting.

“Well, you two certainly _look_ like a couple,” Wonshik said, once the clip ended. “Thanks,” the criminal replied, but there was a bite to his words that make Jaehwan’s heart twinge guiltily.

“ _That was not what we here at News Team 7 were expecting,”_ a female anchor said, turning to her cohost. _“Not at all! A bold move from Mr. Han, spoken only moments ago in the lobby of Lee Jaehwan’s penthouse apartment. And I must say Soojin, it was quite compelling,”_ the male anchor replied, addressing the woman apparently named Soojin.

_“Personally, I could see their love for each other, clear as day. But, tweet us your opinions on the sorted new romance at @News7Seoul and stay tuned next to get a body language expert’s take on the interaction,”_ the woman said, smiling at the camera before it cut to commercial.

Sanghyuk made an angry noise, reminiscent of a cat being stepped on, before he muttered, “I need a cigarette.”

“Join the fucking club,” the doctor replied, fidgeting where he stood. Jaehwan took pity on them and said, “All of the bedrooms have windows that open, go ahead.” He could use one too, if he was honest, but he didn’t have the energy to move. “You two are revolting!” Hakyeon called, staring daggers at Sanghyuk and Wonshik’s retreating backs, and Jaehwan heard Hongbin laugh.

“That went about as well as could be expected, considering he made up that speech on the fly,” the gamer said quietly. The hacker nodded, feeling solemn. “Now we get to hear what a body language expert has to say.”

**Chapter 28: The Associates**   
**Summary:**

**'He hurts me so much and so often, and he doesn’t even realize it.'**

  
**Notes:**

**enjoy this EXO cameo that nobody asked for.**

**Seriously, nobody asked for this.**

**Sorry.**

_ The Associates: _

“Okay, on a scale from 1-10, how awful was that whole thing for you?”

Sanghyuk watched his friend blow a cloud of smoke out of the window of the bedroom they were sequestered in. He and the doctor had stopped in several before settling on this one, mostly because it had an en suite bathroom and Wonshik had to pee, but also because the view was so nice. Each room had a bed, but that was all. No sheets, no pillows, just beds. The hacker really hadn’t tried moving it at all.

“Almost as bad as walking in on you and Jae’s post-sex playtime or whatever you call it. If that experience was an 8, this was a 9,” Sanghyuk replied coolly, but truthfully.

“How much of it was acting?”

“None. Jae started shaking pretty badly towards the end, though. I was worried he was just going to pass out in front of everyone. But I’m proud of him for staying strong.”

Wonshik shifted a little. “You two really- the way he looked at you… like you’re _invincible_. Like you would stop anyone and anything from hurting him. He looks at you like that all the time, but it was more obvious than usual.”

Sanghyuk winced and took a drag on his cigarette. He had seen it too, the unwavering faith in Jaehwan’s eyes, despite wishing he hadn’t. It stung. “Did you notice how much I came off like a lovesick puppy?”

“Yeah, but I think it played into the whole charade nicely.” 

A _charade_. That’s what it had been, Sanghyuk reminded himself.

“I guess so.”

Silence filled the bedroom, just the sound of a breeze wafting through the open window.

“You two looked really happy when I got here,” the criminal said, his masochistic side rearing it ugly head.

Wonshik glanced at him sidelong. “That’s good, because beforehand he was a mess. It kind of freaked me out if I’m honest, I think he’s starting to lose it being alone. I mean, you saw how he just camped out in the living room. I think he’s scared to go anywhere else in the apartment by himself.”

The dull ache that had been present in Sanghyuk’s heart since Jaehwan left three days ago gave a rather painful throb.

He had woken up in bed, still naked from the shower they took together the night before and completely alone. The criminal had panicked, thrown on sweatpants, and ran to Hakyeon’s room. Jaehwan wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye, he thought. No way. Sanghyuk thought maybe someone had snatched him in the middle of the night, or worse. But it turned out that his hacker _had_ taken off, just vanished from his life without a word, and after the horrible things they had said to each other, Sanghyuk couldn’t really blame him.

“He asked me not to kick him out, the night before he left.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”

Filled with a sudden urge to talk, Sanghyuk continued, “We said some really nasty things, and then sort of made up, but not really. Like _really_ nasty, and I think it hurt him more than I realized.”

“Nastier than what you said to him this morning?” Wonshik asked, not a trace of judgment in his voice, only concern. Sanghyuk had _missed_ this, missed talking things out with his best friend. The doctor was an immeasurable comfort to him.

“He told me that he regretted ever meeting me and blamed the whole Hongbin thing on me, and I told him he was a spoiled brat and that nobody would care about him if he wasn’t pretty.”

Wonshik blinked several times. “Is that why you were being mean to him earlier? Because you’re still hurt?” he asked, his warm brown eyes fixed on the criminals face.

Sanghyuk let out a shaky, humorless laugh. “Of course, I’m hurt. But more than that, I was really pissed off. I don’t understand how he could have been stupid enough to do… that. It’s not like he needed the money! I don’t even remember half of the things I said, I was just speaking out of anger.”

“Well, I think you did the right thing, standing up for him. That probably made up for it a little. But Sanghyuk, you have to remember that he’s not as strong as he pretends to be.”

“I know he isn’t; I just can’t help it sometimes. He hurts me so much and so often, and he doesn’t even realize it.”

Wonshik sighed, and the criminal did his best to keep his emotions under control when he asked, “Why are you trying so hard to take him away from me?”

Silence filled the room once more, the doctor watching him appraisingly for a few moments. “I’m not trying to steal anything from you, Sanghyuk. Jaehwan isn’t a possession that can be stolen. But I do love him, and I’ve loved him for years without even knowing it. I think he needs both of us. I can’t be as strong and forceful as you, you know I can’t, and he likes that about you. But you aren’t as soft as I am, and he told me that sometimes he wants rough and sometimes he want’s gentle. He wants both.”

The criminal swallowed hard, wishing he didn’t understand the truth of that statement. It made a twisted sort of sense.

“You’re probably right, but that doesn’t mean I like it. Watching you two interact drives me up a wall.”

“He’s still wearing your watch,” the doctor murmured, dropping his cigarette in the plastic bottle they were using as an ashtray.

Sanghyuk let out a breath of surprise. How had he not noticed? “Better than that piece of crap Hongbin gave him.”

Wonshik chuckled, his eyes flicking momentarily towards the door. “Speaking of which, you should have seen them when I was helping Jae pack. I swear to god, it’s like they can read each other’s minds. I’ve never seen a couple that in sync before.”

Sanghyuk sighed. “I never thanked you for ignoring me and letting him sleep before you came home. If he had gotten sick, I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself.”

“It’s ok. I knew you were just annoyed because Hongbin was there.”

“The gamer is a bit of a sore spot for me, yeah. We should go back out, I don’t trust him around Jae,” the criminal said, closing the lid of their bottle and tossing it in the bathroom trash can.

“Ok. And Sanghyuk… I’m sorry. I can’t help how I feel, I- I’m sorry.”

“I guess we’re in the same boat. I’m sorry too,” Sanghyuk replied, dropping an arm around the doctor’s shoulders as they left the bedroom. That had been therapeutic, and the criminal felt a little of the weight lifted off his chest.

As soon as they reentered the living room, Hakyeon pounced, spraying them with so much air freshener that Wonshik began to cough. “Jesus, Hyung, are you trying to kill us?” Sanghyuk exclaimed, waving a hand in front of his face, his eyes stinging. “You’re trying to kill yourselves with those cancer sticks!”

After taking several steps back, the criminal looked around and saw Hongbin, his forehead against Jaehwan’s, murmuring to the hacker in such a familiar way that it took everything Sanghyuk had not to reach for his gun. 

“You two just missed the body language expert, it was very weird,” Jaehwan said, pulling away from the gamer and lying back on his mattress. “When he says _weird_ , he means _wrong_ ,” Hakyeon corrected, dropping onto the couch opposite and crossing his legs.

Sanghyuk stayed where he was, not approaching nor running away, even though he had absolutely no desire to hear what this so-called _expert_ had to say. “Apparently, you and Jae are very much in love with each other,” Hongbin said, fixing the criminal with a steely look. The expert had only been half wrong then, but Sanghyuk wasn’t going to amend that out loud.

“She also said that Jae thinks of you like his support system, and you have a savior complex, which made me laugh. And the way you two look at each other oozes lovey dovey vibes,” Hakyeon continued, too immersed in his phone to look up. “I’m not the one with a savior complex! He is!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, waving at the gamer and feeling the sting of that accusation in the pit of his stomach.

“You both do, kind of,” Jaehwan replied, looking up at the criminal with a small smile on his face, like it was a compliment. “No, we both _nothing_! We are absolutely nothing alike,” Sanghyuk snapped, turning his back and retreating into the kitchen before he had the chance to see the hacker’s expression change to one of hurt.

What the criminal wanted to do right now was down one of the half-empty bottles of vodka on the counter, but somehow it was still only 11am. He exhaled a frustrated breath and grabbed one of the vile energy drinks that took up at least half the real-estate in Jaehwan’s fridge. “Do you buy redbull in bulk?” he called, leaning his back against the counter and staring blankly at the cabinets. The criminal bet if he opened them, each would be completely empty. It felt like the hacker was just squatting here, it wasn’t a home.

“Sanghyukkie, tell me what’s wrong,” Jaehwan’s voice said from behind him, and the criminal closed his eyes. “Don’t. Not here. That’s what you asked me the first time we were in this kitchen and it didn’t turn out great, so why don’t we just skip this conversation,” Sanghyuk replied, standing as still as he possibly could and squeezing his eyes shut. How could it really be morning when all the criminal wanted to do was crawl into bed and hide?

A hand brushed his upper arm, and Sanghyuk flinched. “Please, _don’t_. Don’t pretend to care, it’s too hard to- I can’t… not yet. Give me a few minutes to breathe first.” He had whispered the words in hopes that the others wouldn’t hear. Jaehwan’s hand vanished, and he let out a sigh of relief. “Sanghyuk?”

Brave. He had to be brave right now. He was Han Sanghyuk, this really shouldn’t be so difficult! The criminal blinked, looking down into Jaehwan’s shiny, shiny eyes. “I don’t need to be reminded of who takes care of me.”

_‘That’s right, sweetheart, keep saying my name, remind yourself of who takes care of you.’_

Sanghyuk’s mouth dropped open, wanting to reply. He wanted to apologize for the fight before Jaehwan left the compound, but hearing those words spoken in Jaehwan’s high, pretty voice. Seeing his plush lips form each syllable. He was struck dumb. What the hell was that supposed to mean?!

And then, his hacker was stepping away, walking back around the island. “Sweetheart,” he managed, his voice coming out hoarse as he turned to watch Jaehwan go. His hacker didn’t look at him, hurrying towards the front door, but Hongbin was leaning against the wall just outside the kitchen, smirking.

Before Sanghyuk had a chance to shoot the gamer, Jaehwan cracked open the front door. “A very tall boy with red hair and a short dark-haired boy with a surprisingly deep voice will be here shortly. Let them in.”

“Who?” Sanghyuk asked, his train of thought completely derailed. “Two of my colleagues. They’re coming to help install a security system for me since I don’t have all the hardware,” Jaehwan replied, reentering the kitchen and pulling a bag of Cheeto’s out of the oven, for some reason, and eating an entire handful at once.

“That’s just what we need, more nerds,” Hakyeon said, appearing at Hongbin’s side with Wonshik trailing behind him. “Are they both in love with you as well?” Jaehwan shot the second in command a look of pure irritation. “No, they aren’t. As a matter of fact, Baek is so hot for Binnie I’m surprised he doesn’t spontaneously catch fire whenever they’re in the same room.”

“Well, that’s a refreshing change,” Wonshik murmured, the beginnings of a laugh clear in his voice. “You’re full of shit,” Hongbin said, sounding almost as amused. “Are you conveniently glossing over the fact that you used to hookup with Chanyeol before we met?”

Jaehwan huffed, waving his hands in dismissal. “That means less than nothing. Now, I am changing into something less… claustrophobic. If they get here before I’m done, just be nice,” he replied, rummaging through a suitcase. He seemed to give up halfway through, and just picked it up and carried the whole thing with him down the hall.

“Hyoggie, your publicist wants to meet with you. She will be at the compound at 2:30, and she strongly recommends that your nerd get a publicist if he doesn’t already have one,” Hakyeon said, pulling Sanghyuk’s attention away from the hallway his hacker had just disappeared into. “Fine, that’s fine,” he replied, just as Hongbin muttered, “He really is full of shit.”

Sanghyuk’s mind was racing, trying to process the addition of two more people to their ‘party’ and failing. He really was not in the mood to talk to anyone at all, let alone strangers. He took a sip of his redbull, not even noticing the taste. His publicist was going to scold him for sure.

Jaehwan was still changing, when a knock sounded. The three remaining men turned, taking in the two people who entered the penthouse. “Baekhyun, Chanyeol,” Hongbin greeted, his tone rather flat.

The hacker hadn’t been lying about their heights. A guy even taller than Sanghyuk, with cherry red hair and big ears, had walked in first. Sanghyuk wasn’t too please by that, he liked being able to use height to his advantage. The second boy, on the shorter side, with soft features and a mischievous grin shut the door behind him. Each was holding a metal briefcase, but the criminal wondered which was which.

That question was answered quickly, if all Jaehwan’s words were true. The smaller boy dropped his briefcase and jumped at the gamer, hugging him ferociously. “We saw the news, where is he?” the taller boy asked, his deep baritone somewhere between Wonshik’s and Hongbin’s. He set his case down next to the other, giving the gamer a quick one-armed hug when the smaller boy let him go.

“Yeah, where is he, and where’s his new man candy?” the shorter asked, poking Hongbin in the chest. His voice took the criminal by surprise, not as deep as the other, but powerful enough to rival Jaehwan in volume alone. “Jae is changing, but man candy’s over there,” the gamer replied, pointing at the criminal. Both of the newcomers turned to look, but Sanghyuk just stared at them, letting his blank mask fall into place.

The shorter one, Baekhyun if Sanghyuk had heard correctly, smiled prettily. But there was a wicked gleam in his eyes that the criminal wasn’t sure how to interoperate. The tall one, Chanyeol, didn’t smile. “He’s _so_ Jaehwanie’s type,” Baekhyun said conversationally, just as the hacker reentered the living room, now in tight jeans and an enormous black sweater.

“Hi, thanks for coming,” Jaehwan said, beaming at his friends and holding out his arms. Chanyeol scooped him up, spinning the laughing hacker in a circle before Baekhyun gave him a hug that was decidedly less friendly than he had given the gamer. “Everyone, this is Chanyeol and his best friend Baekhyun. Guys, you know Binnie obviously, but this is Wonshik, that’s Hakyeon, and that’s my- that’s Sanghyuk.”

“Where’s Seokjin? I thought he would be glued to your side after that _very_ impressive public announcement,” Baekhyun asked, wiggling his eyebrows at the hacker. “He’s in a meeting, drinks? Food?” the hacker replied, ushering his friends into the kitchen.

Sanghyuk watched, taking in the way Jaehwan and his friends orbited each other. They stepped together in a triangle formation, compensating for directional change and shifts in movement like they were dancing. It looked practiced to Sanghyuk, deliberate. If it was natural, he didn’t understand it.

“So... how do we all know each other?” Baekhyun asked, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on Wonshik as he accepted an energy drink from Jaehwan. He stepped back and Chanyeol immediately took his place.

“Sanghyuk is my current employer, Hakyeon is his... secretary?” Jaehwan replied, giving the criminal a questioning look. The hacker was clearly trying to keep the family secret under wraps, which Sanghyuk appreciated, but it didn’t seem to go over too well with his second. “Watch it,” Hakyeon snapped, but the hacker ignored him. “And Wonshik is my doctor.”

“You are way too hot to be a doctor,” Baekhyun exclaimed, his ringing laugh echoing around the kitchen. “I’ve been told,” Wonshik replied, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning. The doctor still hadn’t put a shirt on, his stupid abs and stupid tattoos were on full display.

Chanyeol cracked his can open, moving to let Jaehwan close the fridge and watching the hacker with almost predatory focus. “And how do you three know each other?” Sanghyuk asked, forcibly keeping all emotion from his voice.

“We do jobs together,” the taller boy replied, turning his gaze on the criminal. Chanyeol was too big, Sanghyuk decided. Being tall is good, but any taller than he was ruined _tallness_ as a concept. “Sometimes, more than one person is required to pull certain things off. We’re the best team in the business, thanks in no small part to Jaehwanie’s natural talent. We work so well together that sometimes it feels like we all share one brain,” Baekhyun added, picking up where his friend left off.

Jaehwan blushed, the tips of his ears flushing a delicate shade of pink as the weird triad moved to stand next to the island. “Shush, I can’t multitask as well as you,” he replied, snagging the can from Sanghyuk’s hand and taking a sip. The criminal watched him, eyes tracking down the column of his neck, over the hint of collar bone exposed by the loose neckline of his sweater.

“So, we have all the kit ready for you. Electromagnetic lock, cameras, the works,” Chanyeol said, returning his attention to Jaehwan and flashing a very goofy smile. “Good, let’s get to work then!”

For the next forty-five minutes, Sanghyuk, Wonshik, Hongbin, and Hakyeon looked on as the three techies ran from room to room, Chanyeol and Baekhyun installing security equipment as Jaehwan typed things in on a heavy-duty laptop. It was completely baffling to the criminal, the work they did. He didn’t have a clue what Jaehwan was writing, but one glimpse of the green symbols on the laptop immediately put Sanghyuk in mind of the Matrix. At least it looked like they were having fun.

“Nobody, and I mean nobody is getting into this penthouse without you knowing it,” Baekhyun remarked, once the last motion sensor was installed. “And all of it is synced up to my server now, so I just have to pick a tablet to use for controls,” Jaehwan replied, setting down the metal computer and going to rummage through one of his many boxes.

Chanyeol laughed, tapping the hacker under the chin. “We’ve got you covered, we just have to update the software,” he said, ruffling his own cherry hair and pulling a small rectangular tablet out of one of the briefcases. “Always so prepared,” Jaehwan replied, smiling and making grabby hands at the tablet.

“You’re place looks like shit by the way, why is there nothing in any of the other rooms?” Baekhyun asked, going on tippy toe to pear over Jaehwan’s shoulder. “I like this room,” the hacker replied distractedly. “I’ll have people come and help you properly move in tomorrow,” Sanghyuk said quietly, accidentally drawing the smaller boy’s attention.

“How much are you charging for rent? Three blowjobs a week?” he asked, giving the criminal a sly smile that Sanghyuk did not return. “Shut up Baek,” Hongbin snapped, speaking for the first time since he made introductions.

“He pays in money,” Sanghyuk said, adding as an afterthought, “And rent is probably more than you can afford.” He tactfully left out that he was actually charging Jaehwan an amount so small it was laughable, the real price would probably make these two gag.

Hakyeon stepped up to the criminal’s side, holding his phone in front of Sanghyuk’s face. It was open to an article, and Sanghyuk skimmed it quickly, feeling his blood start to boil.

“Sweetheart, is there any way you can take your website down? The content is causing more problems than we originally thought,” he asked, quietly. Jaehwan looked up, handing the tablet to Chanyeol who picked up typing where he left off.

The hacker rested his chin on the criminal’s shoulder as he read. “I can take it down, yeah. But that info is clearly already out in the open,” he said quietly, looking away from the screen and rubbing his eyes. “What is it?” Hongbin asked, coming to stand much too close to Sanghyuk to be comfortable.

“Some dumb piece of shit is analyzing his cams, telling people the best places to pause and summarizing each one. And there’s screen shots. Lots of them,” Hakyeon replied, sounding suitably annoyed. “Still, take them down. And do it now,” Sanghyuk said firmly, giving his second back the phone and unconsciously resting a hand on Jaehwan’s waist. The sooner they were off the internet, the better, in his opinion.

Jaehwan pulled away, muttering, “You said you needed time,” so quietly that Sanghyuk thought only he could here, before hurrying over to his desk. The screens flashed to life, a quiet whirring filling the apartment as Jaehwan sat down before them.

Sanghyuk stared the back of the hacker’s head, still holding his hand out where Jaehwan’s waist had been seconds ago. He heard Hongbin snicker and whipped his head around, going for his gun without even thinking about it. Before the had the chance to flip the safety off, a soft click sounded from a few feet away.

“No offense, but I don’t actually know you personally, and I really don’t want Kong to get shot,” Chanyeol’s deep voice said coolly, and Sanghyuk glanced over to see a matte black pistol in his tablet-free hand, the barrel pointed directly at the criminal’s head.

“You really don’t want to get involved in this,” Hongbin muttered, nodding at Hakyeon. The second in command had his gun out now, aiming steadily at the tall boy with his finger on the trigger. At least the gamer was unarmed, Sanghyuk thought. He wouldn’t care if he got shot as long as he got to shoot Hongbin first.

“Get involved in what?” Jaehwan asked absently, finally turning around and taking in the situation in a single sweeping glace. The fear that crossed his face was jarring, but Sanghyuk didn’t lower his weapon.

Luckily, Wonshik caught him before he could take a step towards them, and this was the only time so far that Sanghyuk was thankful to see the doctor’s arms around him. “Stop! No pulling guns in my house!” Jaehwan shouted, trying his best to wriggle free.

“Please, put them away, you remember what happened last time,” Wonshik said, his voice a bit strained as he tried to keep a hold on the hacker. “He started it,” Chanyeol said, waving the tablet at the criminal. “Sanghyuk put it down! Channie, Hakyeon, seriously!” Jaehwan said, his voice reaching such a high pitch that it was almost a shriek.

Sanghyuk could see tears forming in the corner of the hacker’s wide brown eyes, and after hesitating for a moment, he slowly lowered his gun. The tall boy did the same, and only once the pistol was tucked under the back of the tall boy’s shirt did Hakyeon re-holster his weapon.

Mercifully, Jaehwan stopped squirming and turned to hide his face in the crook of the doctor’s neck. “You’ve really got to stop doing that, you’re going to kill him,” Hongbin muttered, apparently forgetting that he was the one who had been about to die and giving the criminal a very dirty look.

“Yeollie, I didn’t know you were packing today,” Baekhyun said, sounding mildly impressed and clearly oblivious to the hacker’s whimpers. “Of course, I am. I know who he is, I’m not stupid,” the tall boy replied, returning his attention to the tablet he had been working on. How did this _nobody_ know who Sanghyuk was?!

He and Hakyeon exchanged glances, the second in command clearly wondering the same thing. “I usually work for your buddies, the Jung’s,” Chanyeol clarified, flashing that goofy grin once more, this time in Sanghyuk’s direction.

Sanghyuk went very still, his hand itching in the direction of his gun again, but Chanyeol looked pointedly down at it and said, “Don’t.”

“We should probably go, Jaehwanie. Can you finish this up on your own?” Baekhyun asked hesitantly, tugging on Chanyeol’s arm. Jaehwan said something unintelligible and very quiet, but Wonshik replied, “He said yes.”

“Great, let’s get going,” the smaller boy said giving Hongbin one last look of longing before he and Chanyeol grabbed their briefcases and left the penthouse.

There were several moments of charged silence, until the webpage Jaehwan had been pulling up finally loaded. “Hello, my babies,” his voice said, filling the living room. The video on the screen auto-playing and the younger hacker waving playfully at them.

Jaehwan let out a frustrated scream, pushing Wonshik off him and putting his fist straight through the computer monitor. Sparks flew from the broken screen, crackling and hissing as the image went black.

“Sweetheart!” Sanghyuk gasped, watching dumbstruck as the hacker pulled his now bleeding hand back from the remains of the computer, tears streaming down his cheeks. He ran out of the living room and down one of the hallways, bare feet slapping on the cherry wood floor. The echoing slam of a door was followed buy nothing but sizzle of fried computer innards.

The four men stared at each other blankly, but Hongbin was the one that came to his senses first. He took off after Jaehwan, calling, “Get Seokjin here, now!” over his shoulder before disappearing into the hallway.

**Chapter 29: The Panic**   
**Summary:**

**“Can you sedate him please?” Sanghyuk asked, his voice strained as he held the struggling hacker off the ground. “Don’t you fucking dare!” Jaehwan shouted, at the same time Wonshik replied, “I don’t have any sedatives!”**

**Notes:**

**sorry idk**

**if physical fighting is bad for you then heads up, but nobody actually gets hurt.**

  
**End Notes:**

**I'm working through some shit idk**

_ The Panic: _

Wonshik was sitting against the hallway wall, his head in his hands as he listened to the soft sounds of Jaehwan crying.

“Jae,” he called, for probably the thousandth time, “Let me look at your hand, please.” Just like the last time and every time before that, Wonshik got no reply, and he sighed.

Sanghyuk was pacing back and forth like a caged animal, Cat close on his heels and meowing loudly. “Jyani, your daughter misses you, please let her in,” the doctor said, speaking directly into the seam of the door, as if it was possible for the hacker to miss Cat’s high pitches yowl.

He got no response, although at this point, he wasn’t actually expecting one. Hakyeon was waiting by the door for Seokjin to arrive, and Hongbin was in the living room on a work call, but the room Jaehwan was hiding in was still in his direct line of sight. There was a particularly loud sniffle from behind the door, followed by what sounded like a tear-choked hiccup, and Sanghyuk winced. He stopped mid step and said firmly, “Sweetheart, open this door right now and let Wonshik clean your hand.”

No answer. Just the same quiet crying that Wonshik had been enduring for almost an hour. In all fairness, the hacker _had_ had a really long day, and it was only lunch time.

“Are you crying because I almost shot your gamer, or because of the press, or what? Just talk to me!” Sanghyuk exclaimed, desperation clear in his tone as he rested his forehead against the wood of the door.

Nothing.

The criminal spun away, and he stooped to pick up Cat before burying his face in her fluffy white fur. The sight almost made Wonshik laugh. A giant, scary criminal, cradling a tiny kitten. It put the doctor in mind of that James Bond villain that always carried around a Persian cat.

A sudden, violent _bang_ from the living room made Wonshik jump. He saw Hongbin speaking hurriedly into his phone before hanging up, and then Seokjin’s incredibly distinctive voice shouted, “Where is he?!”

The gamer pointed in Wonshik’s direction as he stood, the sound of loud stomping the only warning before the coder appeared at the end of the hallway with Hakyeon in tow. He motioned the doctor and criminal over, before he whispered, “Don’t get mad at what I’m about to say. An angry Jaehwan is a thousand times better than a sad one, I am speaking from experience.”

Without waiting for a reply, Seokjin shrugged off his navy coat, dropped it on Wonshik’s head as if he were a clothes rack, and stomped up to the locked door.

He banged on it loudly, before shouting, “Lee fucking Jaehwan, you dumb piece of shit! Open this god damn door right now!” he got no reply, but flashed the waiting men a thumbs up. Hongbin and Hakyeon were now shoulder to shoulder with Wonshik, and the anxiety rolling off the group was palpable.

“Stop acting like a child! You’re a grown man, why are you hiding like a fucking baby?! Do you want to be coddled? Do you want me to make you a glass of warm milk and read you a story? Do you want me to treat you like the four-year-old you are?” Seokjin continued, his voice getting even louder, dripping with so much distain it bordered on disgust.

Still no answer, and the doctor watched in shock as the coder crossed himself before banging on the door again. “Jaehwan, do NOT fucking play with me right now! If you don’t open this door and let me in in the next ten seconds, I will PERSONALLY drive to your father’s house and bring him back here, and then you can explain to him why you’re hiding instead of dealing with your shit head-on like a fucking man!”

“Or, I can go pick up your mom, and she will have to watch you whine and cry like a fucking baby! Do _not_ test me, I just walked out of what promised to be an obscenely lucrative business meeting to come and save your sorry ass like I always do, and I’m incredibly pissed! Open the-“

The sight that met Wonshik when Jaehwan appeared on the threshold was probably one of the most terrifying things the doctor had ever seen. The hacker’s eyes were red and puffy, crimson blood had been smeared across his face, presumably from whipping away tears. There were dark stains on the hacker’s jeans, and his over-large shirt was hanging off one shoulder. But the most alarming thing by far was the hacker’s expression. His beautiful lips were parted in what looked like a snarl, his irises almost completely black, with such fiery rage behind them that Wonshik took an involuntary step back.

Jaehwan stocked out of the bedroom and lifted his hands, shoving Seokjin back against the hall wall so hard that the coder’s breath left him in a rush. The two were almost equal in height, and although Seokjin’s broad shoulders gave him the appearance of greater strength, Jaehwan had no trouble slamming him against the wall again, with even more force.

“Do not speak to me that way, and don’t drag my family into it! You have no idea what’s going on so don’t pretend like you understand what I’m feeling,” the hacker growled, in that same low tone he had used with Sanghyuk this morning.

The only way to describe Seokjin’s expression was _alarmed_. Blood was dripping off Jaehwan’s hand and splattering on the coder’s white dress shirt, and the hacker was getting in his face, insults pouring from his mouth like water. “Don’t forget, I’ve seen you crying on our bathroom floor and throwing a fit because someone spilled coffee on your Balenciaga pants. You have no fucking right to accuse _anyone_ of being childish!”

It took several seconds for the rest of them to snap out of it, but Sanghyuk dropped Cat in Hongbin’s arms before he stepped forwards and pulled Jaehwan back, successfully detaining him before he did any real damage.

“Get the fuck off me!” Jaehwan hissed, now crying angry tears and doing his best to kick the criminal as Sanghyuk carried him back into the living room. “Baby, calm down!” Hongbin exclaimed walking in front of them and peering anxiously at his ex-boyfriend.

Wonshik was too stunned to do much of anything, but he quickly looked Seokjin over to make sure he hadn’t been hurt. “I knew that would work,” the coder said with a shaky laugh, his ruined shirt the only visible damage.

“Can you sedate him please?” Sanghyuk asked, his voice strained as he held the struggling hacker off the ground. “Don’t you fucking dare!” Jaehwan shouted, at the same time Wonshik replied, “I don’t have any sedatives!”

“You can’t use those; they mess with his heart stuff!” Seokjin said, before taking a deep breath and crossing himself again. He nudged Hongbin out of the way, and without any warning or preamble, slapped Jaehwan across the face.

Jaehwan stopped shouting, stopped moving, looking so stunned that the doctor was surprised his jaw hadn’t hit the floor. “I’m sorry, but you know I only said that stuff to get you to open the door. Now, quit having a temper tantrum for five minutes and tell me why you’re so upset. And let Doctor Kim bandage your hand.”

Everyone in the room was silent, standing perfectly still in an attempt to not distract Jaehwan as Seokjin’s words sunk in. After a moment, the hacker’s lower lip jutted out, his eyes going wide as the tips of his pointy ears flushed. “Those videos- they’re everywhere. People are looking at them, talking about them, it hurts…” he said, his voice returning to its normal pitch.

Seokjin flicked his head to the side, swishing his fringe off his forehead in a single, elegant sweeping motion. “I’ll handle it.”

“You, sit,” he said, authoritative tone brokering no argument as he pointed at Sanghyuk. The criminal looked startled, but he dropped down to the mattress behind him immediately so Jaehwan ended up on his lap. “You, make that licorice and fennel tea he likes and get him a Chocopie.” The next command was directed at Hongbin, and the gamer turned to hurry to the kitchen at once. “And you bandage his hand. Hakyeon, find Jaehwan a publicist or agent or whoever you think would be best. Do it now,” Seokjin continued, waving his hand first at Wonshik and then Hakyeon.

Tasks delegated, the coder spun on his heels, rolling up his sleeves as he approached Jaehwan’s desk. He turned on one of the monitors that didn’t have a gaping hole in it, typing in what was apparently Jaehwan’s password before getting to work.

Wonshik was on autopilot, cleaning the cuts on Jaehwan’s hand and removing the few slivers of plastic embedded in his skin with practiced movements. He had thought Hongbin knew how to handle the hacker better than anyone, but it seemed that the gamer had taken lessons from Seokjin. He wrapped a strip of bandage around Jaehwan’s hand when he was finished, just as Hongbin appeared at his side with a steaming mug of tea.

Jaehwan’s tears had stopped, but he was staring blankly at the far wall and completely silent which was somehow worse. Sanghyuk was cradling him gently, pressing kisses to the hacker’s forehead and smoothing down his hair, but Jaehwan didn’t seem to notice.

They stayed like that for about 15 minutes, listening to the continuous _tap_ of Seokjin’s typing and the faint noise of Hakyeon on the phone down the hall. Wonshik watched Jaehwan sip his tea through a straw Hongbin had found, a vacant expression on his beautiful face. The doctor had washed the blood off with a damp cloth, leaving the hacker’s cheeks ruddy. How had such an incredibly good morning turned into this, the doctor wondered, his legs crossed and elbow resting on the mattress next to Sanghyuk’s knee.

“Alright, I took down your site and erased every copy of your videos I could find. That’s all that can be done for right now, but I have a friend in the copyright office, and he can process my request to give you official rights to the video’s contents. That way, the next time some dipshit posts them, you can threaten them with a lawsuit and sue the dick off them. The news won’t be able to show them either,” Seokjin said, standing and switching the computer off.

He turned and came to kneel beside Jaehwan, face uncharacteristically serious. “Other than that, all I can tell you to do is own it. The internet is forever, but those cams were hot as fuck and you know it, and if some loser tries to talk down to you about them, ask them how many times they got off to your professional grade content and watch how fast they shut up.”

Jaehwan stared at him for a full thirty seconds before finally nodding. “Thank you,” he said quietly, and Seokjin patted the cheek he had slapped earlier with obvious affection. “It’s fine. Now, no more locking yourself away and hiding, we are all here for you, but we can’t help if you don’t talk to us. I’m borrowing a shirt.”

Seokjin stood and stretched before starting to riffle through the clothes piled across the couch, just has Hakyeon reappeared. “Hyoggie, your publicist said she will take Jaehwan on as a new client, but I did have to triple her pay,” he said, pocketing his phone. “Also, she’s pissed at you for ignoring her and making a public statement without any warning.”

“Fine, I don’t care. Pay her whatever she wants,” Sanghyuk replied, sighing audibly. “She also expects you at the compound at 2:30 sharp and is currently on her way there. As it stands, I wouldn’t test her patience right now.”

Sanghyuk looked down at the hacker in his arms, his expression one of clear anxiety as Seokjin slipped out of the penthouse, now wearing Jaehwan’s light blue button-down, without saying goodbye. Hongbin seemed ready to cry, a new expression for his handsome, normally slightly angry face. “I have to go too baby, it’s that press conference for the world championship tonight and I literally cannot miss it,” the gamer said softly, reaching out to brush his fingertips over Jaehwan’s unbandaged hand.

Jaehwan didn’t look at any of them, still staring at nothing, not acknowledging the fact that everyone was departing so soon after his break-down. “Will- can you stay with him? Please?” Sanghyuk asked, turning to give Wonshik a meaningful look. The doctor blinked. He had been sure that the criminal would insist on bringing the hacker with him, but it appeared he realized that moving Jaehwan now would be a bad idea.

“Of course, if he wants me to stay,” Wonshik replied slowly, watching as Sanghyuk gently shifted the hacker off his lap and on to the mattress. Jaehwan didn’t nod, but he didn’t shake his head either. He just curled up on his side, eyes unfocused and head resting on his arm. 

\---

A week and a half after the news first broke, Sanghyuk stepped off a private jet and onto the tarmac of the small airport he had landed at several minutes ago.

He had been away on business in Daegu, putting down a group of upstart idiots that tried to rob one of his casinos. It hadn’t been difficult, but it had taken the majority of his time, and the criminal was now behind on things here in Seoul. Last he heard, there had been a shootout between his men and some of the Jung’s, a failed mission rescue Jung Jinyoung who was still locked up in the basement of the mansion. Sanghyuk’s men had dealt with it, but there had been lots of injuries and Wonshik had to leave Jaehwan to go do his job.

Sanghyuk slid into the back seat of the waiting Escalade, letting Hakyeon drive so he could try and update himself on recent news. He texted Jaehwan first, knowing his priorities were wrong but not caring in the slightest. The hacker had been such a wreck when Sanghyuk left, he needed to be sure he was alright.

**You:**

_‘Hi sweetheart, I’ve been in Daegu for work, I hope you’re doing ok. Would you like me to bring dinner over?’_

No answer.

Next, Sanghyuk clicked out of that chat thread and down to the one with Wonshik. He realized belatedly that he had about a hundred missed texts and calls, but surely his second in command would have told him if anything else serious had happed. He clicked on the messages and scrolled up to the ones from last week.

**Scaredy Cat:**

_‘Sanghyuk, all the men are recovering well. No fatalities to report.’_

_‘So, I had to leave Jae at his house, and Hongbin went to see him after his conference or whatever it was, and he told me that Jae wouldn’t let him in._

_‘I’m at his apartment to give him his shot, but there are reporters everywhere. Like, I can’t get into the garage, they are blocking everything.’_

_‘I parked a few blocks away and walked, but he told his bodyguards not to let me in, and he wouldn’t come to the door when they knocked to ask him if it was ok.’_

_‘What do I do? He needs his medicine, but those stupid guards nearly broke my hand when I tried to get passed them.’_

_‘OK, I left. I waited there for like an hour trying to talk to him, but he wouldn’t respond. It’s really worrying me actually.’_

_‘Seokjin just texted me. He and his husband tried to go see Jae, and he wouldn’t let them in. he just slipped a piece of paper under the door for Seokjin that had the word sorry written on it.’_

_‘It’s been like three days; I am going to check on him again.’_

_‘Nope, still wouldn’t let me in.’_

_‘Please get back quickly, I know business is business, and the family comes first, but I’m worried.’_

Sanghyuk reread all the messages one more time. “Hyung, go to that good ramen place first and then Jae’s building to drop me off on your way to the compound,” before he typed out a response to his doctor.

**You:**

_‘How many days behind on his medicine is he?’_

**Scaredy Cat:**

_‘Two doses, he wouldn’t let me in either time I tried to see him, and he hasn’t had any since the really bad day.’_

_‘I’m glad you’re back safe, by the way.’_

_‘Ok, I’m going to see him now and I’ll ask why he’s being so stubborn.’_

_‘And thanks.’_

_‘Please ask him if I did something wrong.’_

_‘Will do.’_

“Hyung, why didn’t you inform me that Jaehwan wasn’t getting his medicine? I’m sure Wonshik told you.” Hakyeon eyed the criminal in the rearview mirror. “Because, Hyoggie, you had more important things to deal with and I didn’t want you to get distracted.”

That was an _unacceptable_ response, in Sanghyuk’s opinion. “It is not your place to tell me what I should or shouldn’t be focused on,” the criminal replied, feeling annoyance spark in his chest. He didn’t like being kept in the dark, not one bit. “Yes, it is _exactly_ my place,” Hakyeon snapped, slowly pulling the car to a stop at a red light. “It is my job to make sure that you are able to lead the family as best you can. You were saving the lives of several hundred people this week, one life does not out way the work you do. Jaehwan can wait.”

The criminal bristled. “Are you accusing me of being a poor leader?” he asked, voice dropping an octave as he settled back in his seat. “No, of course, I’m not. But I know how easy it is for the nerd to distract you. You talk about him in your sleep for god sake! I’m trying to stop your crush from developing into an actual obsession!”

“I’m not obsessed with him, I’m in love with him!” Sanghyuk hissed, glaring at the back of Hakyeon’s headrest. “At this point, what’s the difference?”

The car pulled up outside Sanghyuk’s favorite ramen shop, idling on the curb as the criminal stepped out and walked inside, ordering two bowls of the hacker’s preferred noodles. He waited, scrolling through the news app on his phone. It was still flooded with articles about him and Jaehwan that were mostly positive, with additional profiles on Hongbin and Seokjin. There was a particularly good picture of the coder in a gossip column, Seokjin in a dark maroon suit and expensive looking glasses stepping out of the back of a car, and everyone raving about how unbelievably attractive he was. Sanghyuk saw the appeal, but he wasn’t as enthralled as everyone else seemed to be. Seokjin was fine, but he was no Jaehwan.

“Your order’s ready, sir,” the kid behind the counter said, his voice more of a squeak than actual human speech as he handed the criminal a plastic bag. He kept shooting glances out the store window, but Sanghyuk had been too preoccupied to notice before. He followed the line of the boy’s gaze, that spark of irritation growing when he saw the three reporters outside photographing him.

“Thanks, sorry they’re bothering you. They’ll go when I do,” Sanghyuk said, depositing way too much cash on the counter and hastily leaving the restaurant. For the kid’s trouble, he thought, maybe he could buy some comics or something with the extra.

Sanghyuk gave the reporters his coldest stare on his way out of the restaurant, ignoring their shouted questions and sliding into the Escalades back seat. “Step on it,” the criminal muttered, but before the words had fully left his mouth, Hakyeon hit the gas and sped away.

“Just a heads up, those vultures are all over Jaehwan’s place,” the second in command said, taking a very sharp turn down a side street. “Wonshik told me, go the back way. He said he couldn’t get into the garage,” Sanghyuk replied, holding tightly the door handle and doing his best not to spill the newly acquired hot noodles all over the back seat.

They drove in silence for the next few minutes, but on the way around Jaehwan’s block, the criminal caught a glimpse of the crowd outside. It was completely and totally mobbed. “Hyung, call the chief and tell him to get cops down here to break up that crowd. If he wants a reason, tell him disturbing the peace and trespassing on my property. Arrest a few, as an object lesson.”

“Got it,” Hakyeon replied, already dialing as he stopped at the buildings service entrance. Sanghyuk hurried out of the car, using one of his many master keys to unlock the buildings back door. He owned the building, he could do what he liked, and this way he could avoid trying to get through the paparazzi.

The criminal walked quickly through a short hallway and turned to look up at the stairs. He was fit, for sure, and if he really wanted too, he could walk all the way up to the penthouse. But, Sanghyuk reasoned, climbing 25 flights of stairs would probably tire him out too much to even contemplate sex. Or anything other than a nap. Sighing, the criminal pushed open the door that led to the lobby, apparently catching the reporters off guard.

Sanghyuk hit the _up_ button and prayed the doors would slide open quickly, but it took a ridiculous amount of time. People were shouting things at him, and it took everything in the criminal’s power not to throw the scalding ramen at them. The elevator dinged, _finally_ , and Sanghyuk took refuge in the mirrored and marble box as it lifted him up to the top floor. 

The guards stationed at the penthouse door were different than the previous ones. Hakyeon had probably set up a rotation, Sanghyuk rationalized. “Please open the door,” the criminal said, giving the men his best stare. Sanghyuk had decided when Jaehwan moved here that he would _not_ have a key to the door. The elevator card was ok, but in order to try and maintain that barrier of personal space Hakyeon had suggested, he figured that having free access to the penthouse whenever the mood struck him would be a bad idea. It would be too much of a temptation.

Unlike the previous guards, these men didn’t utter a word of protest, the one on the left instantly turning to unlock the door. “I’ve been out of town, has Mr. Lee given you much trouble?” Sanghyuk asked, shifting the bag of food to his other hand. “Uh, no sir. He hasn’t actually left the apartment in over a week. The only time we ever see him is when he gives one of us a grocery list or has us get packages from the mail room. Or when he turns visitors away.”

Sanghyuk didn’t quite know how to unpack that information. “Well,” he replied as the lock clicked, “Better than having to watch someone that tries to sneak off all the time.”

The men both nodded respectfully, stepping aside to let the criminal open the door. The sight that greeted him gave Sanghyuk pause. Inside of the penthouse was messier than it had been before, if that was possible, bed still in the living room and clothes everywhere. The broken computer monitor was still in the center of Jaehwan’s desk, shards of plastic laying around it is if it had been ruined only moments before. The hacker must have turned away the professional organizers Sanghyuk had sent to help move him in.

“Sweetheart? Where are you? I brought dinner!” the criminal called, after a thorough scan of the room revealed that the hacker wasn’t there. Getting no audible response, Sanghyuk carefully made his way to the kitchen and deposited the ramen on the counter along with his phone, wallet, and keys. Maybe Jaehwan was just in the bathroom.

Something brushed Sanghyuk’s leg, nearly making him jump out of his skin, before he realized it was just the cat. “Hey beautiful, where’s your dad?” he asked, unintentionally switching into a baby voice as he stooped to pick her up. The cat purred loudly, shedding white fur all over the criminal’s suit jacket, but he didn’t really mind.

Looking around the living room once more, Sanghyuk noticed that there was definitely an increase in the amount of cat related items. Before, it had only been the little bed and food bowls the criminal had picked when he got the cat from the breeder, along with a litter box that was presumably in one of the bathrooms. But now, cat toys were littered across the floor, there were at least three enormous cat trees pushed up against the walls, and even a little cat sized tent.

“You’re living the good life,” Sanghyuk murmured, absently scratching under the cat’s chin as he walked around. On the hacker’s desk was a tablet, screen lit and flashing with the words, **_‘Front door open, motion detected in Living Room’_** in vivid red font. Jaehwan’s new security system, curtesy of his awful friends, must have noticed him. 

“Let’s go look for your dad,” Sanghyuk said, carrying the cat with him as he made his way down one of the darkened hallways. All the doors were ajar, and each one the criminal peaked in was empty. “Not in here, I guess.”

The criminal was trying the third hallway, when he heard the ceiling above him creak quietly. He hadn’t even thought about upstairs yet, Wonshik’s words of the previous week playing repeatedly in his mind like a recording _. ‘_ _I think he’s scared to go anywhere else in the apartment by himself.’_

“Sweetheart? Jae? Are you up there?” Sanghyuk called, keeping cat firmly in one arm as he hurried up the stairs. Their ramen was getting cold, he thought, only half caring.

He reached the top of the staircase and took a guess, heading in the direction he vaguely remembered the master bedroom being in. Sanghyuk hadn’t noticed downstairs, but there was a definite smell of cigarette smoke in the air.

A light was on, spilling out from under a door several yards away, inside the spacious and empty master bedroom, so that was a good sign. “Jae, it’s me. Can I come in?” Sanghyuk asked, setting the cat down and knocking on the door.

No answer.

The cigarette smell was stronger, now mixed with the distinctive perfume of Jaehwan’s lavender body wash as well as something that put the criminal in mind of earl gray tea. Bergamot? Sanghyuk slowly opened the door and stuck his head in, not wanting to scare the hacker.

He took in the bathroom in a single glance, his heart leaping into his throat.

Bubbles. The large porcelain bathtub was positively overflowing with bubbles. An open champagne bottle sat on the marble floor, droplets of water ringing it, as well as a tea cup containing several cigarette butts and a small pile of ash. Black hair, flashes of indigo woven throughout, shining wet. Just the top of Jaehwan’s head visible above the line of overly fragrant water.

“Jaehwan!”


	3. Chapters 30 - 39

**Chapter 30: The Confession**   
**Summary:**

**'You can’t seriously be leaving already!' the hacker exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Sanghyuk couldn’t go now, not when Jaehwan’s emotions were so mixed up! He needed to explain!**

**'Sorry sweetheart, the family comes first.'**

  
**Notes:**

***if descriptions of pain attacks trigger you, read at your own discretion***

_ The Confession: _

_Gasping_. Soft and quiet gasping as Jaehwan lifted his head back up above the water. His dark hair slicked off his forehead, wiping the wetness off his face, long fingers pruney and droplets dripping from the tip of his nose. His cherry lips parted, sucking air back into his lungs, the lashes of his closed eyes sticking together.

“Sweetheart?!” Sanghyuk asked, the pet name escaping him in a strangled cry. The criminal was on his knees beside the tub, his hands gripping Jaehwan’s pale shoulders, sleeves soaked up to his elbows as he clung to the hacker’s slippery skin.

Jaehwan looked at him, his chocolate eyes red rimmed when they open, wide as dinner plates. “What are you doing?! I thought you drowned!” Sanghyuk said, so overwhelmed with terror that he could do nothing to stop the tears rolling down his cheeks.

Jaehwan shook his head, fast, beads of water landing of the criminal’s face. “No, no I- it’s quiet under water, everything is muffled. I like listening to the nothing,” the hacker replied, his eyes never leaving Sanghyuk’s. Jaehwan seemed almost surprised by the fear he no doubt saw in them.

“Didn’t you hear me calling for you?! I was looking all over, but I couldn’t find you, and then I came up here and you were-“ Sanghyuk said, the words tripping over themselves as they left his mouth, cut off by a shuddering sob. “I thought you were dead! I thought you passed out and drowned!”

“No, I didn’t hear. The acoustics in this maze are weird. But why are you here? I haven’t seen you in days,” Jaehwan asked, reaching out to wipe Sanghyuk’s tears away but only succeeding in making the criminal’s face wetter than it already was.

The heavily perfumed air was making Sanghyuk’s head spin. Jaehwan was alive. He was still breathing. He was looking at the criminal, speaking to him, his wrinkly fingers brushing softly against the criminal’s skin. “I’ve been out of town for work, I got back like an hour ago, and Wonshik said you weren’t getting your shots and I brought you dinner so we could eat together because I missed you but you weren’t answering and I was so worried,” Sanghyuk babbled.

His hands were skittering frantically across the hacker’s wet torso, the anxiety flooding his brain increasing rather than going away like it should be. He was struggling to breathe, and Sanghyuk briefly wondered why, as inhaling and exhaling became more and more difficult. His vision was sharp one moment and then hazy the next. Fuzzy at the edges, like looking down a dark tunnel.

“Sanghyukkie?” he heard Jaehwan’s voice say, sounding muffled and very far away. A sort of meowing noise was coming from behind him. Was there a cat here? No… wait, yes. Yes, there _was_ a cat. Sanghyuk had been holding it only moments ago. He had bought it himself, in fact. Not because it was the most expensive one- she was pricy but there were pricier- but because she reminded the criminal of Jaehwan. Delicate and beautiful, but also feisty and loud. So loud. Loud, loud, _loud_.

_‘Am I having a panic attack? Is this what panic attacks feel like?’_ Sanghyuk thought, his ears ringing. His heart was beating so fast and so hard that the criminal expected it to crack his ribs and burst through his chest at any moment. “Sanghyuk? Baby, can you hear me?” a voice asked. The criminal only barely registered the feeling of hands on his cheeks, that Jaehwan was now in front of him. The side of the tub separating them.

Sanghyuk couldn’t make his brain formulate an answer. Not when he was choking on tears, the steam from the bath suffocating him. He knew Jaehwan was talking to him, saw his lips moving, but the rushing in his ears blocked it out. Tight bands were constricting his chest, his throat. Strangling him.

Maybe he was the one drowning. Maybe, the criminal’s plane had crashed and fallen into some lake, and his imagination had conjured this last image of his most precious, his beloved, before the scummy water filling his lungs stopped his breathing once and for all. ‘ _That sounds right’_ , Sanghyuk thought. It sure felt like he was dying, that was as plausible an explanation as any.

_Lips_. The criminal guessed they were lips. They were soft and pressed to his open mouth, what else would they be? Sanghyuk tried to pull away, needing air, needing to breathe, but the hands on his cheeks stopped him. His heart stuttered, once, twice, the beats starting to slow as the ringing in his ears quieted. He could smell, lavender, bergamot, could feel the pads of wet fingers pressing into his skin. Could hear, water sloshing against porcelain.

_Gasping_. From his mouth this time. Not soft and quiet, but shallow and harsh. Shuddering through his body. Jaehwan was peering at him, brow furrowed with alarm, his wide brown eyes only inches from the criminal’s face.

“I needed you to hold your breath, I’m sorry,” his beloved said, one hand moving to card through the criminal’s hair. Sanghyuk was unfreezing. Thawing out. The icy panic in his veins becoming warm again. He was shaking, he could feel it. He could see the trembling of his hands where they gripped the rim of the bathtub. Defrosting.

Bubbles. _So many_ bubbles. Bubbles surrounding the hacker’s body, still half submerged in the fragrant water. More bubbles, smaller bubbles, spreading across the marble floor from the neck of the champagne bottle now lying on its side. The sickly-sweet smell of alcohol mingling with lavender soap. Smoke, just a small hint of it now, the tea cup of cigarette ash sitting a few feet away.

Then, he was very wet indeed. Hot water soaked through his suit in a matter of seconds, bubbles enveloping him like he was in the middle of a cloud. He was… in the bath? Jaehwan wasn’t strong enough to pull him in here, Sanghyuk must have done it himself. But the process of how he went from being dry to sitting here was eluding him.

“Sanghyukkie! Your phone! Your wallet!” his beloved exclaimed, looking alarmed as his hands patted the criminal’s thighs under the water, presumably trying to find his pockets. “They’re in the k-kitchen,” the criminal replied automatically. He remembered leaving the items in question on the counter before he came up here.

“Oh,” Jaehwan murmured. His hands moved back up to the criminal’s cheeks, his knees bracketing Sanghyuk. “Are you- is this helping you calm down?” he continued, gesturing to the water surrounding them. It was a monster of a tub, nearly the size of a jacuzzi, so there was plenty of room for both of them. But that didn’t stop Sanghyuk from wrapping his arms around his beloved’s waist and hugging him tightly.

The warmth was relaxing him a bit, heat seeping through his skin and into his bones, so the criminal nodded. His movements still seemed chaotic, jerky, but at least he could feel Jaehwan’s comfortable weight. His tears were coming slower, Sanghyuk thought, now only a trickle as opposed to a flood. “Do you want me to call Wonshik? Maybe he should take a look at you, you don’t normally get panic attacks, right?”

“No,” Sanghyuk replied, answering both questions and hoping Jaehwan would understand. “Okay, do you want me to get you some water?” Sanghyuk shook his head. “We already have water,” he replied absently, staring at the bubbles. “I meant to drink, baby. I don’t recommend drinking bath water,” Jaehwan said with a soft laugh, brushing the criminal’s now damp hair back off his forehead.

“Don’t leave,” Sanghyuk murmured, his eyes glued to Jaehwan’s face. “I want- I need to make sure neither of us are dead.” The hacker’s expression returned to one of worry, his head tilting to the side like a confused puppy. “Why have you been shutting everyone out? And why haven’t you answered your phone?” the criminal asked, tightening his arms around Jaehwan’s body. It struck him that the hacker was naked, but he couldn’t muster the energy to do much about it.

Jaehwan sighed, his gentle touches soothing in a way that the hot bath wasn’t. “Sanghyukkie, I get at least ten death treats a day. Mostly from women that are angry at me for corrupting you with me devious homosexual tendencies, but a few actually scared me. The things these people say they want to do to me are so unbelievably graphic… it- I don’t want to look at my phone and see things like that. And it made me scared to open the door in case someone snuck in and hurt me.”

The criminal stared at the hacker blankly, barely able to process what he was saying. “I’m like the Kim Kardashian of Korean men. The ‘got famous from a sex tape’ part, not the ‘has a reality show and lots of sisters’ part,” Jaehwan continued. It sounded like a joke, like he was trying to make Sanghyuk laugh, but the humor didn’t make it through the criminal’s growing haze of anger. Having so many emotions in such a short span of time was overwhelming.

“Death threats,” Sanghyuk said, a statement not a question. His beloved nodded, smoothing the creases from the criminal’s brow with his thumb. “Yeah. But you’re here now, nothing bad will happen while you’re here.”

Sanghyuk let his hand slide up the hacker’s spine, slightly distracted by the slickness of his skin as he stopped on the back of Jaehwan’s neck. “No, nothing will happen.”

Jaehwan was so wet. His hair glistened in the low light of the bathroom, black transforming into a shining silver every time he moved. And he was so clean. Smelled so nice. His skin was that perfect shade of alabaster, not a blemish to be seen. It was distracting, the criminal thought, weaving his fingers through the hair on the nape of Jaehwan’s neck.

“Are you drunk?” he asked suddenly, remembering the bottle of champagne now spilled all over the floor. Jaehwan’s pretty lips curved up into a smile. “No, I only got to have one sip before you showed up. That was Dom, by the way, and I expect it to be replaced.”

Sanghyuk grinned, the hackers sassy tone made it impossible not to. “I’m a grown man sitting in a bathtub while wearing a suit,” he continued, the sheer ridiculousness of the situation finally sinking in. “And how does that make you feel?” Jaehwan asked, trying to suppress a giggle.

“Fucking fantastic” the criminal breathed, grinning wider as his beloved collapsed against his chest in a fit of laughter. Sanghyuk held onto him, smiling into Jaehwan’s wet hair and trying to stop the hacker from accidentally inhaling bubbles.

“So, you said something about bringing me dinner?” Jaehwan asked, once his giggles subsided. “I got us the best ramen you will ever eat in your life,” Sanghyuk replied. “How much was it, a million wan from a Michelin star restaurant?”

“3,000 wan each.”

“Peasant,” Jaehwan exclaimed happily, his fingers tugging playfully on the lapels of Sanghyuk’s sopping wet suit jacket.

Now it was love. He had gone from anger, to panic, to terror, and back to anger, in less than an hour. But at this moment, probably the weirdest moment of his life, all Sanghyuk felt was _love_.

\---

“You look like a count,” Sanghyuk said, as soon as Jaehwan walked into the kitchen.

After a considerably long time spent in the bath, Jaehwan was in a plum robe of quilted velvet and black sweatpants, his damp black hair combed neatly off his forehead and fuzzy plum slippers. He thought he looked rather good.

“Don’t mess with me,” the hacker replied, eyeing the criminal and holding back a laugh as he continued, “You look like a big gay dinosaur.”

It was lucky for Sanghyuk that Jaehwan liked oversized fashion, because the criminal’s suit was currently airdrying in the laundry room. However, the sight of Sanghyuk in an olive-green track suit and matching Gucci socks was almost _too_ funny.

“These are your clothes, so I have no idea why you’re laughing,” the criminal retorted, sliding a bowl of delicious smelling noodles across the counter. “Whatever, Hyukosaurus. Let’s eat.” Jaehwan snatched up his dish and a set of chopsticks from a nearby vase before making his way over to his bed.

Sanghyuk followed after him, nearly tripping twice before carefully lowering himself onto the foot of the mattress. “Seriously, you need to do something about your living situation. It’s like trying to walk through a mine field,” he muttered, stuffing noodles into his mouth so quickly that the hacker was surprised he didn’t choke.

“Are you trying to eat your dinner or inhale it?” Jaehwan asked, earning a glare from the criminal. “They are still hot, somehow. Try some,” Sanghyuk replied, around a mouthful of ramen. He looked abnormally cute, and Jaehwan sent a silent curse to whatever god was in charge of making guys that are both adorable _and_ hot.

Jaehwan watched the criminal for a few moments longer. Sanghyuk’s panic attack earlier had absolutely terrified him, and despite the bravado he was trying for, the criminal still seemed shaky and out of sorts. Jaehwan had only ever seen Sanghyuk close to that upset once, after their conversation but before he had gone and beat up Hongbin.

Seeing someone as strong as Sanghyuk completely break down was unnerving. His tears had made the hackers heart stop, the clear fragility of a boy who was, after all, only 22. It ignited that rare protective feeling in Jaehwan’s chest. The need to comfort, to try anything to make Sanghyuk better, even though he was the one causing the criminal’s pain. It hurt.

“You weren’t kidding, these are amazing,” the hacker said, looking down at his bowl in disbelief. “Told you,” Sanghyuk replied, letting his legs fall open just the tiniest bit. Just enough that the side of his knee was touching Jaehwan’s. The hacker pet his thigh a little, trying to be comforting.

They ate in silence for a few minutes until all the noodles were gone. Styrofoam bowls abandoned on the floor, Sanghyuk turned to face the hacker, sitting cross legged with his hands in his lap. “Show me these threats, please,” he said, nodding at Jaehwan’s phone in the charger by the side of the bed. Jaehwan hesitated.

_‘My heart is pounding,’ Jaehwan said breathlessly, watching Sanghyuk shrug off his suit jacket. ‘I think that’s probably the adrenaline shot you just got,’ Sanghyuk replied, grinning and pressing the hacker’s back against the wall._

Jaehwan shook his head. The image of their first time together had bloomed in the hacker’s mind without reason or warning, sending him reeling. He hastily crawled over to grab his phone, when the memory switched.

_‘Say my name. Not baby, not murderer, my name.’_

_‘Sanghyuk,’ Jaehwan breathed, water droplets falling from the blonde hair plastered to his forehead._

God, the criminal had looked so upset. The pain rolling off him like heat from a wildfire. It had hurt the hacker, seeing the agony behind Sanghyuk’s dark eyes. The need to fix it, to make it better, to have those same eyes look at him with adoration and joy again. The hacker would have done almost anything in that moment, to make the criminal smile.

Jaehwan yanked the chord from his phone and turned around, instantly pinned by the intensity of Sanghyuk’s gaze on him.

_An enormous smile broke across the criminals’ face, and he lightly tapped Jaehwan’s nose. ‘You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.’_

The watch on his wrist felt heavy, weighted with the words inscribed on the back, pressing into Jaehwan’s wrist. “You just had a… you know, because you thought I died. Is reading about the ways people want to kill me a smart decision right now?” the hacker asked, slowly crawling back to where Sanghyuk was sitting.

“Just let me see. I’m a big boy, I can handle it,” the criminal replied, taking the phone from Jaehwan’s hand. His fingers brushed the hacker’s palm, and Jaehwan’s eyes went wide as the screen lit up Sanghyuk’s face.

_‘Baby, Sanghyukkie, please,’ Jaehwan begged, his head dropping back onto the desk as he whimpered the criminals name._

“This is still your lock screen?” Sanghyuk asked, glancing up at Jaehwan with a look of genuine surprise. “Of course, it is, why wouldn’t it be?” Jaehwan replied automatically. “I thought maybe you had switched it to one of Wonshik, since you two are so close. You have to text him, by the way. He’s worried that he did something wrong and that’s why you wouldn’t let him in.”

“Wonshik is Wonshik.”

_‘Wonshik is Wonshik’_ , what a brilliant, intelligent answer. Come one Jaehwan, you can do better than that!

“Wonshik is a sweetie, and he’s my friend, but we have never actually taken a picture together.” Sanghyuk looked up. He paused for a moment, as if deliberating, before he asked, “Do you want to take a new one? You look different now.”

“No!” Jaehwan replied, hearing how weirdly loud his voice was and not understanding why. He tried again. “No, I like _that_ one. You surprised me when you did it, and it was like, the first cute thing we did together. I like it.”

Sanghyuk was staring like Jaehwan had grown a second head. “Do you still have yours?” the hacker asked, trying to get the criminals attention off him.

“Yeah... I change it every time you piss me off, but I keep putting it back,” Sanghyuk replied, pulling his phone from the pocket of his borrowed track suit and holding it in Jaehwan’s face. There it was, memories of that moment came flooding back like it was yesterday.

_‘It’s pretty, but you can do better,’ Jaehwan said, swiping up to the camera before palming the criminal’s cheek and kissing him softly on the lips._

“I look like a fucking twelve-year-old,” Jaehwan said, trying to joke. Trying to make Sanghyuk smile so the weird tension bubbling in his stomach would go away. “You do look a lot older with dark hair. The only time I’ve really even seen you look your age was when we had our first date. Before you fucked Hongbin in my garden, obviously, like at dinner. I’ve seen the security footage of you in Wonshik’s pajamas and you _certainly_ looked like a twelve-year-old then.”

Jaehwan flinched. The casualness of Sanghyuk’s words hurt more than if he had been mean. Rudeness he could handle, but Jaehwan wasn’t ready for the flat disappointment.

“I didn’t know it was him when I went out there, and we didn’t actually fuck, we just-“

Sanghyuk shook his head, and the rest of Jaehwan’s explanation died in his throat. “You don’t need to make excuses, you owe me nothing,” the criminal said, scrolling through messages on Jaehwan’s phone. He didn’t even look at the hacker.

“Sanghyukkie, Baby, I’m-“

“I told you, don’t bother. As long as your alive, I don’t care who you sleep with.”

Jaehwan didn’t know what to do. His stomach felt like it was full of butterflies, but not in a pleasant way. Seeing the result of his rather flippant regard for the criminal’s feelings was breaking his heart. The only way to describe how Sanghyuk looked was defeated.

“Baby, do you still...”

Sanghyuk was the one who flinched this time. “Don’t make me say it again. You don’t feel the same way, so there’s no point.”

Silence fell. Jaehwan _hated_ silence. He was looking back and forth from the criminal to the phone in his hand, the photo of him kissing Sanghyuk etching itself onto the inside of his eyelids.

The criminals phone began to buzz, notifications that Jaehwan had sent him messages appearing and covering their faces in the picture.

“I’m sending the worst ones to myself, just in case.”

The silence continued, only broken by the buzzing of Sanghyuk’s phone and Jaehwan’s shallow breathing. Why did he feel this way? Like he wanted to tuck himself against the criminal’s chest and just live there forever. Like he would burn up on the spot if he didn’t feel the criminals soothing touch.

Was he just lonely? Or horny? He was both, for sure, having been by himself for so many endless days, but he didn’t think that was causing this. It wasn’t like how he felt around Hongbin, not that familiar and easy comfort. With Sanghyuk, every touch was fresh. New. And he _loved_ that. He thought back to their first kiss, the way Jaehwan’s lips had tingled, how his mind had gone blank for those few seconds of pure bliss. And the second time, his heart in pieces and tears staining his face. How Sanghyuk’s kiss has saved him from falling apart completely, how sweet the criminal had tasted, the way his hands burned against Jaehwan’s skin.

“Sanghyukkie, can you-“

“I’d better go, I should have been at the compound an hour ago to check on my injured men.”

Jaehwan watched in dismay as the criminal swapped their phones back and stood. “I’ll wash this and give it back; someone will be by to pick up my suit if I’m too busy.”

“You can’t seriously be leaving already!” the hacker exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Sanghyuk couldn’t go now, not when Jaehwan’s emotions were so mixed up! He needed to explain!

“Sorry sweetheart, the family comes first.”

Jaehwan’s heart sank. He felt three very important words desperately trying to claw their way up his throat. He was unsure, not of their meaning but of himself. He knew that if he spoke them aloud, everything would change in an instant.

Frantic, needing to express himself, Jaehwan fumbled with the clasp of his watch and slid it off his wrist. He held it out, the underside facing Sanghyuk so the criminal could read the inscription.

“You’re giving it back? Just because I have to go do my job?” Sanghyuk asked, his lips curling in disgust. “I knew you were immature, but not _that_ immature.” He took the watch from Jaehwan’s outstretched hand and turned away. _Well that fucking backfired! What the hell is wrong with you Jaehwan?! Step up your game, come on!_

“No!” the hacker exclaimed, trying to keep his voice from sounding shrill and failing. “No, the words! The inscription!” he continued, bounding after the criminal and accidentally tripping over a box of old DVD’s.

Sanghyuk quickly spun around, looking down at the hacker sprawled on the floor. “Will you be careful!? And what about the inscription? I wrote it, I know what it says. I wish I _hadn’t_ , but what do you want me to do about it now?” the criminal asked, helping the hacker to his feet before walking towards the front door.

Jaehwan glanced at the heels of his hands, they were red and scraped up, but he barely noticed the pain. “I don’t want you to do anything about it! Just look at it!” the hacker said, desperately trying to catch up, but the criminals’ legs were too long.

Why did he feel so twisted up inside?! Confessing had never been this difficult before, especially when he knew his feelings were returned.

“I don’t want to look at it,” Sanghyuk hissed, pocketing the watch as he reached for the doorknob. It was now or never.

“Sanghyuk! I love you!” Jaehwan shouted, way louder than he should have, but he needed the criminal to stop. Needed him to stay, if only for a minute longer.

The criminal froze. “Don’t lie to try and get me to hang out with you some more, that’s just _cruel_.”

Jaehwan’s heart was beating so fast it felt like he was going to pass out. Why didn’t Sanghyuk understand! “I’m not lying! I love you!”

“Stop it, stop saying that! I know you don’t mean it!”

“Yes, I do! I love you!”

Sanghyuk was glaring at the hacker now, his eyes narrowed, and jaw clenched.

“Kiss me!” Jaehwan ordered, feeling soft cotton under his fingertips and he rested his hands on the criminal’s chest.

Sanghyuk didn’t move, didn’t lean down or tilt his head. If he was going to be that fucking stubborn, then Jaehwan would take charge.

The hacker went up on tiptoe, sliding his hands around Sanghyuk’s neck and tilted his own head, pressing his lips to Sanghyuk’s. He pushed all his crazy, wild, confusing love into the kiss, hoping Sanghyuk would feel it. Praying.

\---

As they had eaten dinner, Sanghyuk felt himself getting more and more annoyed. Jaehwan had been touchy, overly so, and the criminal had seen how much his cheeks flushed and how his eyes darkened when they finished. How could Jaehwan have possibly been thinking about sex after Sanghyuk had a panic attack!? That’s what he had been thinking about, no doubt, neediness had been written all over his face.

And then all this ‘I love you’ business was just mean. Jaehwan was being hurtful for no reason. Why had the hacker decided to spoil what had been turning into a nice night?

Jaehwan was kissing him, and as usual, the criminals heart leapt. How could it not? Every time Jaehwan touched him he felt those same fireworks, the joy in the pit of his stomach. But he didn’t want this right now. Sanghyuk didn’t want to be kissed. It was only adding insult to injury.

“Enough,” Sanghyuk said, firmly pushing the hacker off him and stepping back. Jaehwan looked unnecessarily hurt, his chocolate eyes brimming with tears and his plump bottom lip jutting out in a pout. “Don’t do that, I need to go,” the criminal continued, reaching for the doorknob again before he could second guess himself.

“But I love you.” The hacker’s voice was quiet, shaky, his hands curling loosely around the criminal’s waist as if he could hold him back.

_‘Did you feel anything?’ he asked, raising his head just slightly and looking down into Jaehwan’s eyes._

_‘I mean, yeah. There’s no denying that we’re physically very good together, I really like kissing you… and doing other stuff with you. Touching you makes me feel all tingly. And I genuinely like you as a person and enjoy your company, plus you’re gorgeous. But I don’t think that’s what you wanted to hear, was it?’_

“Why would you even say something like that? You think I can trust you? I remember you saying that you couldn’t love me, what could possibly have changed?” the criminal asked, feeling his heart frost over. “Baby, I don’t know! But I do know that I love you, and I want to be with you!”

“Yeah? Is that what you told Wonshik when you made him confess to you during sex? Because even for you, that’s nasty,” Sanghyuk hissed, spinning around again so that Jaehwan would let him go.

_‘Baby, it’s too soon for me. Too soon after… you know. I can’t fall into something like this so quickly, I can’t give you what you want right now and I’m sorry.’_

“Did you two compare notes on how I am in bed? I didn’t _make_ him say anything, I asked if he did and he said yes.”

“I genuinely don’t believe you. Do you think I don’t understand how much you crave affection? You know he would never deny you anything, but you keep stringing him along. I’m different, you can string me along all you want, but he won’t be able to handle it. He’s too soft.”

Jaehwan’s lip was trembling. “I love him too, sort of, but differently than I love you. And I _do_ love you, why don’t you believe me?”

Sanghyuk couldn’t stop. It was like he was vomiting words. “Because I know you’ll say and do anything for attention, and you’ve been here alone for a very long time.”

In almost any other scenario, Sanghyuk would be screaming with joy. But this wasn’t real. Jaehwan was lying, trying to use Sanghyuk’s feelings for his own benefit. As usual. How was he even surprised by it anymore?

“You love Wonshik too? Go call him and tell him, I’m sure you’ll make his day,” the criminal said, smoothing his expression to one of professional blankness. He needed to leave, now, before the hacker started fake crying.

Jaehwan was on him again, not kissing this time, thank god, but touching. So much _touching_. He latched himself to Sanghyuk’s front, whining something about how he didn’t want anyone else but Sanghyuk and how he needed Sanghyuk to understand, but the criminal kept his arms at his sides.

“Get off me, Jae. I’m so not in the mood,” Sanghyuk hissed, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. He heard the distinct and easily recognizable sound of Jaehwan’s sob, and he pried the hacker off, pushing him a step away and leaving the penthouse as fast as he could.

The guards at Jaehwan’s door had clearly heard the whole thing, but wisely, neither of them said a word. Sanghyuk was already in the stairwell before he realized that he had neither his wallet nor any shoes. He took the stairs at a run, making to the ground floor in record time. Hakyeon had sent a car to pick him up, and it was thankfully waiting by the back door when he got there. He slid into the back seat, only letting himself feel what he had just done when the door was locked. Jaehwan’s watch was heavy in the pocket of his borrowed track suit.

**Chapter 31: The Recoil**   
**Summary:**

**'Wonshik smiled then. A mischievous, devilish, beautiful smile that spelled nothing but trouble. Jaehwan had never seen that look on his face before, and it was so fucking sexy that the hacker couldn’t stop himself from swallowing.'**

_The Recoil_ :

_“Won-Wonshikie?”_ the doctor heard; phone pressed to his ear as he left the ward for his bedroom. He had discharged the last injured man just before dinner and was feeling very proud of himself, reassured by his ability to actually help people.

_“Jae? Are you ok? Are you sick? Why haven’t you been letting me give you your shots? Did I do something wrong?”_ he asked, shutting the door to his room behind him and shrugging off his lab coat.

_“You didn’t d-do anything, I’ll get my shot in the morning if you come now, I can’t- I can’t be alone for another night.”_

_“Why are you crying? Are you just lonely or are you hurt?”_

_“Sanghyuk is a cruel piece of shit, tha-that’s why I’m crying! Hurry and come here before he gets there! We don’t even have to do anything if you don’t want, you don’t even have to touch me! I just need you near m-me!”_

_“Jae, baby, calm down. Did he hurt you?”_ the doctor asked, rummaging through his closet for a hoodie.

_“Only m-my feelings, are you coming?”_

_“Yes, I’ll be there as soon as I can, ok?”_

_“Thank fucking god, because I’m about t-to lose my mind!”_

_“Just hang tight and cuddle up with your cat. I’m leaving now.”_

_“Ok, th-thank you.”_

Wonshik hung up the phone and pocketed it, making sure he had his wallet and the keys to Sanghyuk’s Range Rover, which he still hadn’t given back. He honestly didn’t want to know what Sanghyuk had done to make Jaehwan cry this time. How anyone could be so consistently mean to as sweet a person as Jaehwan boggled his mind. He thought, or hoped, his and the criminal’s talk last week might have gotten Sanghyuk to think about his actions a bit more carefully, but apparently that was not the case.

Once in the car, he made the extremely pleasant discovery that he had left his backpack in there last time he drove it. All of the assorted paraphernalia was inside, and he grinned as he backed the SUV out of the garage. “You really are a shitty doctor,” he mumbled to himself.

He had only been driving for five minutes at most when his phone rang again. Hitting the speaker button and balancing it on his knee, Wonshik asked,

_“Hello?”_

_“Wonshik, are you in my car?”_

The doctor flinched.

_“Yeah, you said I could use it. Why?”_

_“Where are you going?”_

_“To see someone.”_

_“Jaehwan?”_

_“Maybe, so what?”_

_“He’s in one of his moods.”_ Sanghyuk’s voice had that iciness to it that always heightened Wonshik’s anxiety levels instantly.

_“What are you talking about, moods? The only mood it sounded like he was in was sad.”_

_“Did he tell you he loved you? When he called you, I mean? I’m just assuming he did.”_

The doctor had to force himself not to slam on the breaks.

_“Why would he say that?”_

_“I don’t know, I’m not as twisted as he is, but he’s definitely in needy mode and resorted to some pretty drastic measures to try and get me to stay. He’s in that mood where he lies a lot, is what I meant.”_

_“So, why didn’t you stay? I’ve told you like sixty fucking times that he’s fragile and you need to treat him with kindness!”_

_“Just because he’s fragile doesn’t mean I have to sit there and let him play with me like a fucking doll. Why are you even taking his side? You’re my best friend.”_

_“Sanghyuk! I’m not taking anyone’s side, but have you seriously forgotten that he’s a week behind on his medicine, and about how I told you his body would revert back to its original state if he stopped taking it? I know he looked like he was getting better, but now we’re back to square one, and he could die basically whenever! You want him to die, all alone, locked up in that trash heap he calls his home?”_

The criminal was quiet on the other end of the line, so Wonshik kept talking.

_“I don’t know what you two said to each other, but you should have stayed. It doesn’t actually matter at this point, so just go to the compound and get some sleep.”_

_“I wanted to talk to the men who were injured in the shootout. Check on them.”_

_“I released the last one earlier today, they’re all fine. You should have asked me.”_

_“Well, I-“_

_“Just go home and sleep. I’ll do my best to stop him from dying before tomorrow.”_

The call went dead, and Wonshik sighed, driving the rest of the way to Jaehwan’s building with the radio on high.

\---

Wonshik had discovered the back door on his second failed visit, and subsequently found out that one of the gillion keys on the Range Rover’s keyring unlocked it. It was so much easier this way, not having to try and get past the wall of reporters in the lobby, but when he reached the elevator doors, Wonshik saw that the majority of them were gone. Only a few lingered out on the pavement, a drastic change to what he had seen on the live news coverage a few hours previously.

“He said you could go in,” one of the guards at Jaehwan’s front door said. He looked a little annoyed by that fact, maybe he was pissed that he didn’t get to try and break Wonshik’s arm again. “Thanks,” the doctor said, scooting past him and opening the door.

Before he could even take a look around the apartment, a tall dark-haired blur jumped at him and latched itself to his side, pressing frantic kisses to his mouth. “Hey Jae,” Wonshik said, trying to maneuver an arm around the hacker’s shoulders.

“S-sorry, sorry, I said you didn’t have to touch me, and you don’t,” Jaehwan replied breathlessly, unlatching himself rather quickly and skittering away again. “It’s okay, I like hugs,” the doctor said, smiling at the shirtless hacker as Jaehwan scooped Cat out of one of the open moving boxes.

Pausing, Wonshik licked his lips a little, and then grinned. “You spoiled my plan,” he said sliding his backpack off his shoulder and following Jaehwan to the kitchen. “What plan?” the hacker asked, turning and eyeing him suspiciously. “My plan to fix you a drink so you’d calm down.”

Jaehwan stared at Wonshik for so long, that the doctor had time to pull out his fifth of whiskey from his backpack. “You’re a doctor!” the hacker exclaimed, hiccuping a little before the word _doctor_ and picking up a cigarette he had apparently dropped in the sink. “Why does everyone keep saying that? I know I’m a doctor, but I work for a glorified drug dealer and a little alcohol never hurt anyone. Well, that’s not true, but it won’t hurt you. It’s medicinal.”

The hacker smiled, that crooked smile that pushed his cheeks up so his eyes were little crescents. “I’m glad you brought some, because I had basically none left!”

\---

They were almost tipsy enough that Jaehwan could forget Sanghyuk’s rejection. Almost.

As a person unused to rejection of _any_ kind, it had stung more than the hacker was expecting and nearly shattered his heart. Jaehwan was used to being in demand, being wanted in every aspect of his life. Almost everyone he met either wanted to fuck him or hire him, so he had the luxury of being picky. This was a feeling he didn’t like, only ever having felt it once before when Seokjin broke up with him. He would have done anything to never feel it again.

But Wonshik was here, his sweet and adorable and _sexy_ Wonshik, here to save the day and lift the hacker’s spirits like always. He really was the perfect medicine to ease Jaehwan’s heartbreak.

They had put on a movie, some action thriller garbage that Jaehwan couldn’t even remember the name of, and the two of them were lazily making out under the covers in Jaehwan’s bed. It was _good_ , it gave the hacker than sense of being loved that he craved so desperately.

“Do you wanna go somewhere?” Wonshik asked suddenly, pulling back a little but keeping his hand on Jaehwan’s cheek. “Go where? Neither of us should drive,” the hacker replied, trailing his lips along the doctors jaw. “Like… a club or something. And that’s what cabs are for, we don’t have to drive.”

Jaehwan’s heart skipped. He hadn’t left this apartment in two weeks and thought of going outside simultaneously excited and terrified him. “You won’t let anyone kill me, will you?” the hacker asked, nipping the doctor’s earlobe and grinning at his quiet gasp. “Of course, I won’t, you’re safe with me,” Wonshik replied, the tips of his fingers barely brushing the shaved bit of Jaehwan’s undercut.

“Wonshikie,” Jaehwan asked, nuzzling into the crook of the doctor’s neck and inhaling his comforting musky cologne. “Yes?”

“Are you asking to go somewhere as friends because you’re bored, or like, a date?”

The doctor grinned, rolling over so his knees bracketed the hacker’s hips so fast that Jaehwan’s whiskey soaked brain spun. “Considering that you’re in a fake relationship with my boss, I don’t know how kind it would be for me to ask you out on an actual date, no matter how much I’d like too. But what do you want? Do you want it to be a date?”

Jaehwan sighed, an unconscious light exhalation as he thought that question through. Yes, he did like Wonshik, even loved him in a weird way that he himself could not properly explain. He loved how caring the doctor was, how Wonshik always gave him what he needed, how he didn’t just hear Jaehwan’s words, but listened to them. The fiery, passionate, and very much newly discovered love for Sanghyuk that had bloomed in his chest not even an hour ago now felt like a flower that had been stepped on. Crushed under the white cotton soles of the criminal’s borrowed Gucci socks when he walked out of the penthouse. This was a tricky situation, not exactly a rebound, but close enough, and the hacker needed to handle it with extreme caution.

Handling it with caution, though, was made much more difficult by the alcohol in both his bloodstream and the doctor’s. Jaehwan knew that Wonshik would _not_ normally be that bold, that assertive. He didn’t ask in-your-face questions like that, or he hadn’t ever done so before. But _oh_ , his deep dark eyes were looking at Jaehwan so fondly, a little hint of ink showing through the neckline of his hoodie. He was so unhelpfully handsome, it was muddling Jaehwan’s thought process even more. Instead of answering, the hacker decided to ask a question of his own.

“What did you think of me when we met all those years ago? Because if I’m remembering correctly, you looked frightened to death.”

Wonshik seemed surprised by the turn of the conversation, his eyes widening a little and the apples of his cheeks turning a delicate shade of pink. “When we met? You mean when you broke in?” he asked. Jaehwan nodded before the doctor continued to speak.

“Well, I _was_ frightened to death.”

Jaehwan grinned, trying his best to pull the memory of their encounter before his minds eye. It couldn’t have lasted more than three minutes in total, he had just done the first thing that came to mind in order to get away. He didn’t know Wonshik, and it had been an unquestionably dangerous situation, but the doctor had been looking at him in such a strange way. Jaehwan had decided on a whim that seduction might work. However short, their meeting had clearly left quite an impression.

“Why? You were the one pointing a gun at me, and like you said, I was so sickly that you thought I was a junkie,” the hacker replied, idly running his fingers over the muscles of Wonshik’s bicep. Even through the fabric of his sweatshirt, Jaehwan could feel how toned they were. Baekhyun had been right, Wonshik was way too hot to be a doctor. Unless he was on greys anatomy or something.

Wonshik smiled then. A mischievous, devilish, beautiful smile that spelled nothing but _trouble_. Jaehwan had never seen that look on his face before, and it was so _fucking_ sexy that the hacker couldn’t stop himself from swallowing audibly.

“That didn’t last very long, did it? And even though you were thin, you were absolutely enchanting,” the doctor said, his knees lightly squeezing Jaehwan’s hips as his thumb traced the hackers jaw. “What with your perfect lips and gorgeous legs and that crazy blindfold thing, all my training flew straight out the window.”

“Did you ever try to find me?” Jaehwan asked quietly, feeling as though if he spoke too loud, whatever spell they were under would be broken. “Of course. Sanghyuk told me not too, since whoever you were, you were clearly an enemy, but I looked anyway. I went through all of our files on the Jung family, every one of their known contacts and associates outside the organization, but I couldn’t find you anywhere. It also didn’t help that my memory of you was clouded by anxiety and then further muddled by the concussion from being hit over the head with my own gun. But I looked at every tall skinny brunette boy I could find. None of them had that certain _thing_.”

“What thing?” The hacker’s question was only half asked on purpose. He loved the base of Wonshik’s honey voice and wanted him to keep talking. “The _you_ thing. The thing that makes everyone you meet either love you or hate you. That pull. I don’t know if you realize, but you do this switch sometimes where you will be adorable and sweet one moment and then be positively oozing danger the next. It’s irresistible, it makes me feel like we’re playing a very high-risk game.”

Jaehwan smiled. He had no clue what Wonshik was talking about, but it sounded like a compliment. “Is it sexy?” he asked, dropping his hands to the doctor’s thighs. “Extremely,” Wonshik replied, tilting Jaehwan’s chin up and pressing a soft, slow kiss to his lips.

The sensation had Jaehwan’s nerves singing with pleasure. He hadn’t been lying all those weeks ago when he said Wonshik was a good kisser. Every move of the doctor’s mouth turned the hacker on.

“So, are we going out, or do you want to stay here?” Wonshik asked, murmuring the question against Jaehwan’s lips, their noses bumping together. It took the hacker a full five seconds to recover from the slight headrush he was suffering from, blinking up into the doctors sparkling eyes. “Let’s go somewhere, somewhere fun.”

He wanted to stay in an find out where that kiss was going to lead, but the pull of being outside was too strong to ignore. “Okay, but you have to do something so you don’t look like your normal self. No paparazzi.”

\---

Wonshik had stared, unashamed, as Jaehwan dressed himself in oil-slick denim and black pinstripe silk. He had watched Jaehwan spray his thick locks a light shade of turquoise and draw perfect liner on his eyelids. Put in a set of ice blue contacts and tint his lips a shade of red that reminded Wonshik of an oaky cabernet. He had borrowed the hacker’s clothes, replacing his hoodie with a shirt of deep purple satin and his worn-out sneakers with a pair of ankle boots the hacker said were actually Hongbin’s.

They had ignored the bodyguards trailing behind as they took the elevator to the second floor and the stairs the rest of the way. The guards turned out to be a blessing in disguise, since one of them had driven Sanghyuk’s Range Rover to a nearby club while Wonshik had done his best not to undress Jaehwan in the back seat.

The men had followed the couple into the club, probably having already told Hakyeon what was going on, but they had mercifully hung by the bar after Jaehwan and Wonshik finished daring each other to do shots. The doctor couldn’t muster up anything other than a sort of pleased fascination. Seeing the hacker in a public setting like this was _very_ new.

“Do you like girls as well, or only guys?” Jaehwan asked, his lips brushing the shell of the doctor’s ear as he smoothly rolled his body to the base heavy music blaring around them. Wonshik could feel the beat reverberating in his bones. “I like girls too. They’re soft and pretty and stuff,” the doctor replied, his hands clasped around Jaehwan’s narrow waist.

“Chaotic bisexual," Jaehwan said with a laugh. "Then watch, and don’t get jealous. That girl hasn’t taken her eyes off us for the last five minutes.”

The doctor watched, his vison blurring around the edges as Jaehwan stepped back, turning a little as he held a hand out to the left of Wonshik and pulled a very pretty girl seemingly from thin air. The girl was shorter than Jaehwan by roughly six inches, her silky hair swinging all the way down her very scantily clad back, white teeth glinting in the club lights as she smiled.

He was staring again, Wonshik thought somewhere in the back of his mind. Why, you might ask? Because it was very hard for him to wrap his head around the sight of someone like Jaehwan grinding on a girl, his long fingers tangling in her hair and the other hand on the small of her back. Allowing said girl leave lipstick marks on his neck. The hacker had a remarkable talent for taking something that would normally be considered vulgarity and turning it into a sort of elegant debauchery.

“ _Fuck_ ,” the doctor muttered, the curse inaudible over the heavy rumble coming from the speakers. Jaehwan began kissing the pretty girl, and Wonshik saw her literally melt in the hacker’s arms. It was _… a lot_.

After what felt like years but was probably only a few minutes, Jaehwan gave the girls hair a playful yank and spun her away again, latching himself firmly around the doctor’s neck once more. He had a bit of the girl’s purple lipstick smudged on the corner of his mouth, and Wonshik unconsciously reached to wipe it off with his thumb. The hacker had a voyeuristic streak, if that wasn’t clear already. He was positively sparking with energy.

“Do _you_ like girls?” Wonshik asked, still having a difficult time processing what he just witnessed. “No, not really, but kissing is kissing regardless of gender and my mission was clearly successful.” Jaehwan pressed the top of his thigh against Wonshik’s crotch, visibly pleased at how hard the doctor was.

Wonshik’s head was spinning. Whether that was literal or metaphorical, he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that his brain was swimming in vodka, he was more turned on than he had been in a while, and he needed to get Jaehwan somewhere private. Now.

“Baby,” he groaned, feeling Jaehwan run his fingers through the doctor’s hair. “Yes, darling?” the hacker asked, nuzzling Wonshik’s jaw as he idly unbuttoned the top few buttons of Wonshik’s shirt. “Don’t call me what you call your cat,” the doctor muttered, his arms locked around Jaehwan’s middle. “What do you want me to call you instead?”

“Something else. Come on, I need another shot and then we are going somewhere so I can fuck that smirk off your face,” Wonshik replied, lifting Jaehwan a foot off the ground and carrying him through the crowd to the bar. Jaehwan was giggling as he said, “Okay sugar, whatever you want.” Wonshik felt a shiver run down his spine, but he dropped the hacker next to the high counter and signaled the bartender, ordering four shots of tequila and keeping a hand firmly on Jaehwan’s waist.

They each took two, and Jaehwan got in a quiet argument with his bodyguards before shrugging off the man holding his arm and pulling Wonshik into the bathroom. It was mercifully empty, but their solitude probably wouldn’t last for very long and the hacker was clearly impatient for things to get started.

“What did your babysitters have to say?” Wonshik asked, his breath catching as Jaehwan pinned him to the stall door. “They told on me and daddy dearest is pissed. Apparently, Cinderella isn’t allowed to leave the tower, but I genuinely couldn’t care less.” The hacker hastily unbuckled Wonshik’s belt, his nimble fingers flicking the button on his jeans open and lowering the zipper in record time.

“Wasn’t Rapunzel the one who was stuck in a tower?” the doctor asked, stepping forward and pinning Jaehwan to the opposite wall. The hacker shrugged; their brief conversation already forgotten.

Wonshik kissed Jaehwan then. He allowed his hands to find their way under the hacker’s oversized blouse, his palms flush against Jaehwan’s bare stomach, inhaling the quiet moan’s that escape Jaehwan’s lips every time they paused for breath.

Their hands were sloppy, movements haphazard as they removed only the most necessary of one another’s clothes. A yank at a waistband here, tug of a shirt collar there. No deliberate gentleness this time, just drink-slowed reflexes and shaky fingers, foggy vision.

“You look like a doll,” Wonshik mumbled, staring into the hacker’s artificially blue eyes. It was weird, he thought, letting his gaze drift up to Jaehwan’s nearly florescent hair. It was _weird_. “Is that a compliment?” the hacker asked, palming the doctor’s crotch over his boxers.

“Yeah,” the doctor replied. He clutched Jaehwan securely against his chest and slipped two of his own fingers into his mouth, quickly coating them with saliva before pushing the tip of one digit past Jaehwan’s rim.

The hacker gasped, fisting the open front of Wonshik’s shirt as the doctor began moving it in and out with almost painful slowness. “You’re so fucking tight,” Wonshik hissed, feeling Jaehwan’s warmth strain against the intrusion. “How is it even possible with the amount you get laid?”

“Nobody’s touched me in over a week,” the hacker replied, his voice pitched up an octave as he tried to keep his moans at a minimum. “Not even you?” the doctor asked, realizing belatedly that the alcohol was loosening his tongue. He usually shied away from asking such personal questions, although their current position allowed for a bit of boldness.

“No, not even me. I’m n-not as thirsty as everyone assumes. People just like to jump me,” Jaehwan murmured, his breath quickening as the doctor added his middle finger. Those words didn’t actually process, not really able to penetrate the haze of drink and pleasure flooding Wonshik’s brain. He just hummed, nuzzling the shell of the hacker’s ear as his senses were overwhelmed with the smell of Jaehwan’s cedarwood cologne.

He continued scissoring Jaehwan open, ears buzzing with the hacker’s quiet involuntary whines until he couldn’t stand waiting for a second longer. He knew the prep was barely enough, if that, but prolonging this would kill him.

It was a lack of both self-discipline and self-control that urged Wonshik to spin Jaehwan around and press his front to the wall. The hacker’s hands came up, one palm on the wall and one curling around the back of Wonshik’s head as the doctor pushed his almost painfully hard cock into Jaehwan’s entrance.

Jaehwan mewled, his back arching prettily as he scrambled for purchase, apparently trying to find something to anchor himself as the doctor paused, hips flush with the hacker’s. Wonshik didn’t want to hurt Jaehwan, _never_ , so he stayed still.

“Go,” Jaehwan panted a few eternities later, the word coming out slurred as he knotted his fingers in Wonshik’s hair.

Wonshik’s palms grasped the hacker’s hips, pinky’s slipping over the bunched-up fabric of Jaehwan’s pants. He pulled back almost all the way, just his tip stretching the hackers’ rim before thrusting back in to the hilt.

A surprisingly loud yelp escaped Jaehwan. His head dropped back on the doctors’ shoulder; crimson lips parted around a silent cry. He was beautiful, Wonshik thought, staring down at the blush blooming on the hacker’s cheeks. More beautiful than anyone Wonshik had ever seen.

The doctor fucked into the hacker, slow but rough, the tips of his fingers digging into Jaehwan’s hips hard enough to leave bruises. He didn’t feel like a doctor now. Right now, Wonshik felt like the 25-year-old man he was, a bit reckless and a bit more masochistic, with a bad habit of falling in love too fast and too deep.

“That girls’ lipstick is all over your neck. It looks like you got mauled,” Wonshik murmured, listening to the little ‘ah, ah’ sounds pouring from Jaehwan’s mouth in short staccato bursts. “Re-replace _ngh_ it,” the hacker said, working himself closer.

Wonshik obliged, sealing his lips to the column of Jaehwan’s long neck, sucking deep red marks across it and eliciting a string of high whines. The doctor’s thrusts grew faster, dizzy from the heady feeling of the wet heat surrounding him.

“So… f-full _fuck_ ,” Jaehwan moaned, his thick lashes fluttering as his back arched further. “Good, baby?” Wonshik asked, pressing his thumbs against the hollow below Jaehwan’s hipbones and smirking against his skin. “Mhm,” the hacker hummed, choking on a whine. “C’mon Sugar, h-harder.”

“Shh, Baby, we’ll get caught,” Wonshik breathed. His drunk brain had caught up with him enough to remember they were in a bathroom at a club, connected under an illusion of isolation. He reluctantly raised a hand from Jaehwan’s hip and pressed it over the hacker’s mouth to quiet him.

Jaehwan whimpered, both hands flush against the stall wall, fingers curling as his thin body trembled. The doctor watched a bead of sweat roll down the hacker’s temple, mesmerized. Humidity gathered on Wonshik’s palm with each of the hacker’s exhalations.

Wonshik allowed his teeth to graze the juncture of Jaehwan’s neck and shoulder. His skin was salty sweet, like a frosting covered pretzel, Wonshik thought, or the taste of a kiss on a scorching summer afternoon.

But it wasn’t summer, it was autumn verging on winter. Jaehwan was his autumn boy, Wonshik decided, able to switch from frosty austerity to soft warmth on a dime. Duality personified. The doctor trailed kisses along the hacker’s cheek, letting his hand slip up to cradle the hacker’s waist.

The doctor changed the angle slightly, brushing Jaehwan’s prostate and causing the hackers body to jolt in his arms. Jaehwan leaned into him, his head dropping forward, letting Wonshik support him almost entirely.

Wonshik’s thrusts were becoming sloppy, pushing himself as deep into the hacker as possible. He felt Jaehwan clench around him, sobbing brokenly into his palm as he came, painting his own stomach white below the bunches up silk of his shirt.

The doctors hand slid off Jaehwan’s mouth, cradling the hacker tightly as he emptied himself with a low groan. Their breaths were coming ragged, the hacker rocking gently back to work them through their high.

Wonshik pulled out slowly, using a ball of toilet paper to clean himself and the hacker off. Jaehwan had his cheek pressed to the stall wall, blue hair a tousled mess. He looked absolutely wrecked, cherry mouth swollen, and eyeliner smudged. Wonshik cooed at the hacker the way he would coo at a sleepy puppy, sweeping Jaehwan up into his arms and planting kisses on his cheeks.

“You’re so cute, and you have purple on your mouth,” Jaehwan giggled, his voice weak and words slurred, resting his hands on Wonshik’s shoulders. “I’ve got nothing on you, you’re the cutest person in the entire universe,” the doctor replied, kissing the tip of Jaehwan’s nose, his eyebrow, his temple. This was _bliss_. How could Sanghyuk give this up?

Without any warning what so ever, there was a knock on their stall door. Wonshik nearly jumped out of his skin, they hadn’t heard the real door open or close, how long had this unknown person been standing there?!

“Can we help you?” Jaehwan drawled, a little smirk on his face as his arms circled Wonshik’s neck.

“Yes,” a familiar voice replied. “You left your wallet at the bar and I’m taking you home.”

**Chapter 32: The Accident**   
**Summary:**

**“Sir, what did you want to see me about?” Taekwoon asked, his face expressionless and voice soft, standing in front of his boss.**

  
**Notes:**

**There are translations of the tiny bit of French I used at the end of the chapter, in case you aren't in the mood for google. Sorry for my grammar by the way, if you speak French.**

_ The Accident: _

“Hongbin?” Wonshik asked, unconsciously hugging Jaehwan tighter at the sound of the hacker’s ex boyfriends deep voice.

“Yes, it’s me. Now open the stupid door.”

Jaehwan shook his head so fast he almost toppled over. “Why should we?” the doctor replied, caught off guard by the hacker’s hesitancy. “Because, you _brats_ , I am taking you home. The baby psychopath told Seokjin to come get you and Seokjin told me. Apparently, he’s out of town.”

“Don’t make me shimmy under the door and drag you out, because I absolutely will and you _won’t_ enjoy it,” Hongbin continued, sounding very threatening after a few seconds of silence. The image of Hongbin crawling into the stall like the grudge painted itself vividly in Wonshik’s mind, and he shivered with revulsion.

The doctor looked back at Jaehwan who seemed downright terrified for some reason, but Wonshik did his best to focus as he kissed Jaehwan’s cheek and unlatched the stall door.

Hongbin was only about a foot away, hair tucked under a beanie with the hood of his sweatshirt pulled over his head and a pair of slightly opaque sunglasses sitting on the bridge of his nose. He looked weird. Everyone looked _weird_ today.

“They let you in dressed like _that?”_ Jaehwan slurred, before slapping his hand across his mouth. Wonshik broke out in a fit of uncontrollable laughter, nearly collapsing on the hacker who had also started to giggle. “Shut up, they let you in and you look like a coked up foreign cyborg! Now, let’s go.”

Under the glasses, Hongbin’s expression was about as menacing as his voice, and Wonshik’s laughter died away instantly. “I’m taking that as a compliment. Why are you here again?” Jaehwan asked, seemingly immune to the gamers particular brand of intimidation, his fear from a moment ago gone.

“ _You_ were seen,” Hongbin hissed, pointing a finger between Wonshik’s eyes. “A you were seen with him, although they haven’t figured out who you are, thank god. Some girl told the paparazzi about kissing the ‘famous doctor from the internet’s’ date, and they have pictures of you, Wonshik.”

Jaehwan waved his hands in dismissal, and despite Hongbin’s accusatory tone, Wonshik couldn’t actually bring himself to care. “If it’s the girl I’m thinking of then she sure did kiss that internet doctor’s date,” the hacker replied, joy clear in his slurred words. Wonshik let out a high-pitched shriek of a giggle that he was positive he had never made before and planted a sloppy kiss on Jaehwan’s lips.

“Stop it! We are giving your bodyguards the slip and I’m taking you home! You’re in no condition to be out right now with all the press attention!” Hongbin snapped, whatever patience he had maintained drying up on the spot. “Je suis désolé mon amour ne pas être en colère!” Jaehwan said, his tone switching to a kind of honey-drenched condescension.

Wonshik shook his head a little, confused. Had he gotten hit over the head or something? Why could he no longer understand words?! “Je m’en fous!” Hongbin replied, looking more annoyed by the second as Jaehwan pressed his cheek to the doctors and pouted. “Nous partons maintenant!” the gamer continued, grabbing the hacker’s wrist and starting to yank him towards the door.

“Why… what is happening? Am I so drunk I forgot how to understand speech?” Wonshik asked, blinking rapidly and pulling the hacker back to his side. “His mom is French, he lived in France, and likes to switch and speak French when he wants to be _extra_ irritating,” Hongbin explained, shooting Jaehwan a look of pure frustration.

“Mes gardes,” Jaehwan began, but Hongbin snapped, “Speak Korean so your doctor can understand you!” The hacker’s pouty aura increased, lower lip jutting out as he replied, “My guards. We probably shouldn’t ditch them what with all the threats I’ve been getting.”

“Threats?! What threats?!” the doctor and the gamer exclaimed in unison. Jaehwan jumped a little at their combined volume, hooking his arm with Wonshik’s as he replied, “I’ve been getting death threats, a lot of them. Didn’t daddy dearest tell you?”

“ _Please_ don’t refer to him as daddy in my presence,” Hongbin spat, pulling his phone out and tapping the screen with a ferocity that the plastic rectangle didn’t deserve. “I can’t believe you took him out when his life is in danger!” the gamer continued, momentarily glaring at Wonshik before returning his attention to his phone.

“I didn’t know!” the doctor replied; his brain too muddled with alcohol to actually get defensive. He looked into Jaehwan’s weird blue eyes, blinking some more in hopes it would help clear his head. “It’s fine as long as my bodyguards are with me. So, if you want us to leave then they have to come.”

“Fine, let’s get them. We are going to _our_ apartment.”

\---

“Why is that piece of shit blowing up my phone?” Sanghyuk asked the room at large, not bothering to address Hakyeon personally.

The second in command was perched on the foot of Sanghyuk’s bed, watching the criminal dress after his shower. Sanghyuk hadn’t felt clean after he left Jaehwan’s penthouse despite the bath. He had needed to wash off the filthy lies the hacker tossed around so carelessly.

“Which piece of shit would that be?” Hakyeon asked, stretching one leg artfully in front of himself and grinning wickedly. “Hongbin. And more importantly, how the fuck did he get my private number?”

_“I_ _mean_ … Jaehwan and Seokjin both have it, and neither of them are exactly trustworthy, are they?” the second in command replied, tilting his head to the side before asking, “What’s he saying?”

Sanghyuk grimaced. He hadn’t actually read the messages, only getting so far as to see ‘Unknown Number’ followed by ‘This is Hongbin’, before nearly throwing the phone. But, Hongbin wouldn’t try to contact the criminal without a good reason, maybe he _should_ read them.

**Unknown Number:**

_‘This is Hongbin’_

_‘I know you probably don’t want to talk to me, which is fine, and the feeling is totally mutual, but why didn’t you tell anyone that Jae is being threatened?’_

_‘Seokjin sent me to come pick him and your doctor up at a super trashy club, and he only has two bodyguards with him. They weren’t even close enough to notice me go into the bathroom where Jae and Wonshik were, let alone have been able to stop me if I was a bad guy!’_

Anger flamed in Sanghyuk’s chest. He changed the contact name before replying.

**You:**

_‘It’s nobody’s business. And if Jaehwan wanted you to know, don’t you think he would have told you?’_

_‘I apologize if you don’t think I’m doing enough to keep him safe. It’s not like I assigned my own men to give him a 24/7 security detail or have people watching his building at all times or pay my own publicist to keep articles about him to a minimum.’_

**Gambling Problem:**

_‘I don’t think you’re doing enough, actually. He wouldn’t be in this position if it weren’t for you, and you owe him all that and more to try and make up for your failings. Not to mention how much you owe him for bringing love into your miserable life.’_

_‘He brought no love into my life, only complication. We owe each other nothing.’_

_‘Yeah, you can tell yourself that lie over his casket.’_

_‘Do better.’_

This time, Sanghyuk really did throw his phone, barely missing the edge of the fireplace. He hadn’t been aiming for it, but the crash of shattered plastic that would have resulted if the phone had connected with the redbrick mantel would have been extremely satisfying.

Why Seokjin sent Hongbin to pick Jaehwan up instead of going himself, Sanghyuk didn’t know. All he knew that there was a very high-resolution photo of a grinning Wonshik stepping out of the criminal’s Range Rover, and Sanghyuk guessed Jaehwan was with him. They were both absolute idiots for going out in public like that.

“Fucking Jaehwan! All anyone ever wants to talk about is Jaehwan! I’m sick of it!” the criminal exclaimed, whirling on his heels and stomping into his closet. The mansion had been returned to its normal cool temperature after the hacker moved out, and now Sanghyuk always found himself shivering. He pulled on his fluffy navy robe, forcibly _not_ picturing Jaehwan lounging around the office in it, before stomping back into his bedroom.

“All _you_ ever want to talk about is Jaehwan. Having second thoughts about him?” Hakyeon asked, now reclining on the criminal’s bed with his hands folded under his head. “Don’t be spiteful, Hyung. It’s unattractive,” Sanghyuk spat, kneeling to light a fire in the hearth. His bones felt like they were made of ice.

Hakyeon didn’t reply, waiting for the flames to crackle and Sanghyuk to straighten up before he held his arms out. The criminal didn’t think twice. Didn’t second guess his actions. He crossed the room in a few long strides, curling up on his side and letting Hakyeon envelop him in a hug.

“You need to warm up, darling. Let me help you,” the second in command said softly, pressing a gentle kiss to Sanghyuk’s lips.

This was safe. Hakyeon had always been safe and would always be safe. Sanghyuk tried to picture Wonshik, his _best friend_ , doing unspeakable things with his _beloved_ in the bathroom at a club. The image came into his head all too easily, and he pushed it away. He had to shut his mind off somehow. Not feel any of this, not let himself dwell on the thought that Jaehwan may have been telling the truth. But if he hadn’t been lying, why would the hacker call Wonshik the second Sanghyuk left? No, none of it was true.

If anyone was _really_ loyal to him, really loved him, it was Hakyeon. His second in command was his family.

“What I need is _you_ ,” Sanghyuk replied, chasing Hakyeon’s lips and rolling the second in command onto his back. _God_ , how the criminal missed being able to sleep alone.

\---

“I never expected you to drive such a mom car,” Wonshik said, grinning at the back of Hongbin’s head.

He was sitting in the back of a silver Volvo SUV, Jaehwan’s legs over his lap. He was playing with one of the hacker’s ears and feeling a bit clearer minded after chugging the bottle of water that the gamer had forced on him.

“This is Dennis. He’s our road trip car. Binnie normally drives a Jag but it only has two seats,” Jaehwan replied, lightly tapping Wonshik’s nose with a huge goofy smile on his face. Mercifully, he had taken out the blue contact lenses after the three of them, plus the bodyguards, had snuck out the back door of the club. One guard was in the passenger seat, Hongbin refused to let him drive, and the other was following in the Range Rover.

Jaehwan took a sip from his water bottle, feet wiggling as he said, “Someone needs to go get Cat. I don’t want my daughter spending the night alone.”

“You have an automatic feeder and a water fountain for her, I’m sure she’ll survive by herself for one night,” Hongbin replied, taking a turn onto a side street rather sharply. “I’ve grown attached to her; I don’t like the thought of leaving her.”

“That’s a first. I’m glad you finally found something you don’t want to abandon,” the gamer snapped. Wonshik couldn’t see his face, but he guessed that Hongbin looked pissed. Jaehwan seemed taken aback, opening and closing his mouth several times but no words came out.

Not one to enjoy confrontation, Wonshik changed the subject. “You never told us you lived in France, how old were you? What part?” he asked, kissing the corner of Jaehwan’s mouth between each question.

“I was born there, in a seaside town called Saint-Jean-de-Monts. The largest city nearby you would know is Nantes. We lived there until I was four, when my parents found out how sick I was. Then we moved to Seoul until I was ten. After that, we lived in Paris for a year and a half while surgeons there looked me over. We came back here when they told my parents there was nothing they could do.”

Wonshik just stared. Jaehwan had been happy once, with no threat of death hanging over his head. The doctor could picture it, a small brunette child with ears too big for his head and a nose to match, running through wet sand on a sunny beach. He had never thought about what Jaehwan was like as a little kid, Jung Taekwoon hadn’t said anything about France and Wonshik had never questioned the thief again.

“Did you like it there?” he asked, watching a wide smile spread across Jaehwan’s face. “I loved it. There is nothing more beautiful then Paris in the winter. So much love and romance in the air. It’s the most wonderful place in the world.”

Wonshik saw the twinkle in the hacker’s eye as Jaehwan slipped into some past memory. “Do you remember last year, when our car broke down on the Rue Duphot, and we ran through the snow to try and make our dinner reservation but ended up getting lost?” Hongbin said, his anger from moments ago morphing into a nostalgic murmur.

“And we finally gave up and took refuge in that little cafe until the storm stopped? That was the best chocolat chaud I’ve ever tasted,” Jaehwan replied, expression distant. “The pastries weren’t bad either,” Hongbin mused, fingers tapping rhythmically on the steering wheel.

Wonshik tended to forget how much history the hacker and the gamer had. He had never known them as a happy couple, hadn’t met Hongbin until after they broke up. It was always different seeing them together. _Difficult_.

“Anyway, now you know. My mother lives here, but I know how much she wants to return home. She probably will once I die,” Jaehwan said, matter of fact. “Don’t say things like that, please,” Wonshik replied, cupping the hacker’s cheeks in both hands. “You’re doing so well with the serum; you don’t need to worry about dying now.”

Jaehwan hummed, a sound of ascent and contentment as he closed his eyes, leaning into the doctor’s touch. “Say something in French,” Wonshik murmured, a fingertip tracing Jaehwan’s eyebrow. He could see the tiny scar left by the piercing that used to reside in the arch.

“Mon cher amour, tu es si précieux,” the hacker said softly, eyes flicking to the driver’s seat headrest so fast Wonshik wasn’t sure if he had imagined it. Hongbin visibly flinched. “What does that mean?” Wonshik asked, enchanted by the hacker’s lyrical accent.

“It doesn’t matter. Let me teach you a phrase you can use,” Jaehwan said, blinking and forcing a smile back onto his face. “Je suis le meilleur docteur du monde, je suis un héros.”

“You’re right, that’s a good one for him,” the gamer muttered, the car slowing as they were boxed in by midnight traffic. “It means,” Jaehwan said, pressing a kiss to the center of Wonshik’s palm, “It means, I am the best doctor in the whole world, I’m a hero.”

Tears pricked behind Wonshik’s eyes. His sister always made fun of him for being a crybaby, but he couldn’t help it. The sweet words touched his heart so deeply that he didn’t try to stop himself from kissing the hacker with all the love he could muster.

Jaehwan melted into his touch, humming again as his fingers curled around the front of Wonshik’s shirt. “My sweet autumn boy,” the doctor whispered, forming the words against Jaehwan’s full lips as affection swelled in his heart.

The car was moving quicker again, sound of a loud engine accelerating somewhere nearby. Wonshik felt Jaehwan’s soft skin under his hands, heard the guard up front sniff in disapproval. Hongbin’s annoyed tone as he said, “Please don’t make out in the back of my-“

A jolt of impact, the feeling of being weightless, the screeching of tortured metal. Then nothing.

\---

“Sir, what did you want to see me about?” Taekwoon asked, his face expressionless and voice soft.

He stood in front of his boss, Jung Hoseok, who was seated at the end of a long conference table with his legs crossed. He was tall, but a bit shorter than the thief, his dancers’ body lithe and taught even under the guise of indifference.

“We had an opportunity tonight we weren’t expecting. That hacker and the Han doctor were together outside the circle of Mr. Sanghyuk’s protection and we made a move. Eliminating both targets at once would have been extremely helpful.”

Always straight to the point. No small talk. No buildup. Somehow, that made it worse.

Taekwoon was _frozen_ inside, keeping his blank mask intact by the skin of his teeth. _Jaehwan_. Jaehwan and Wonshik had been attacked. How could they have been stupid enough to be out unprotected with the clear threat of violence hanging over the hacker’s head?!

_Oh_ _god!_

“Unfortunately, a civilian was involved as well as one of the Hans lackies. Your friend, Lee Hongbin.”

“What?” Taekwoon asked, his voice growing quieter. The head of the Jung family watched him intently, no feeling crossing his face.

“He was driving our targets around, having just picked them up from a club. They got in... an _accident_.”

An accident. That was an obvious lie that Taekwoon was supposed to catch on too. If Hongbin was dead, the thief would never forgive himself. His oldest and closest friend killed by his family. Taekwoon felt himself shudder.

Jung Hoseok tilted his head, scanning Taekwoon’s face with his hands clasped atop his knee. He was beginning to look amused, finding the thief’s horror funny. People said Han Sanghyuk was scary, but he had nothing on the leader of Taekwoon’s family. It was like comparing a house cat to a wild tiger.

“You have a new assignment,” Hoseok said, his lilting tone making Taekwoon’s mouth twitch in a grimace. “Go to the hospital, I know you want too, but assess the condition of our targets while you’re there. If I haven’t missed my guess, Mr. Han and Mr. Cha will be there as well. Keep an eye on Sanghyuk, I want to know just how much this breaks him.”

Taekwoon nodded, waiting until he was dismissed before nearly running out of the room. He took off for the garage, not bothering to put on a coat or get his wallet from his office. The only thought in his head was _Hongbin_.

French Translation:

_Je suis désolé mon amour ne pas être en_ _colère_ = **I’m sorry my love, don’t be mad**

_Je m’en fous!_ = **I don’t care (rude, kinda means ‘I don’t give a fuck’)**

_Nous partons maintenant_ = **We are leaving now**

_Mes gardes_ = **My guards**

_Chocolat chaud_ = **Parisian hot chocolate**

_Mon cher amour, tu es si précieux_ = **My dearest love, you are so precious**

**Chapter 33: The Fear**   
**Summary:**

**The leader of the Han Crime Family entered the hospital like a fucking tornado.**

  
**Notes:**

**There are translations of the tiny bit of French I used at the end of the chapter, in case you aren't in the mood for google. Sorry for my grammar by the way, if you speak French.**

**Im pretty sure this is the only time 6vixx have been together in one room.**

**Say hello to Jaehwan's imaginary mom**

_ The Fear: _

_Ringing_.

All Hongbin could hear was ringing.

He blinked his eyes open.

He could smell _burning_.

But not normal burning. Not like a camp fire. Like how he would imagine tin foil smells if you drop it on a lit stove.

He looked around, pain shooting up through his neck and left arm.

He had been in the car.

He had been _driving_.

He had been driving with Jaehwan and that doctor.

Wonshik. Jaehwan and Wonshik.

Where had he been going? _Home?_

Yes, he had been almost home...

“Jaehwan?!” He felt his mouth form the name but couldn’t hear it.

There was glass around him, shards of it, a few jagged pieces stuck in the fabric of his sweatshirt. _Pavement_.

He was on the pavement with glass all around him and ringing in his ears. Had he crashed? Had someone hit him? Where was Jaehwan? _Fuck_ , thinking was hurting his brain.

Hongbin turned his head to the right. His neck protested, but the gamer did his best to ignore it.

The Volvo.

It was on its side, the entire passenger side mangled, just one huge dent. It looked like a giant had taken a swipe at it with its fist.

The _passenger_ side.

Jaehwan and that bodyguard had both been on the passenger side.

Or, no.

Jaehwan had been stretched across the back seat. He hadn’t been wearing a seatbelt. _Fuck_.

Hands on him. Holding his shoulders.

He turned back around, looking into the terrified face of a stranger. A middle-aged woman with shoulder length hair and a white blouse. She looked a little like his mom.

There were more strangers around, Hongbin realized. Two of them were pulling something out of the back door of the car.

The front of the Volvo was on _fire_.

Something else was lying on the street a few feet away. Hongbin squinted, the glare of the streetlights making it had for him to see, but... _Wonshik_. The doctor was lying in the middle of the street.

Ignoring the woman holding him, Hongbin tried to stand. The shaking in his legs stopped that attempt almost instantly, so he decided to crawl.

The distance to the doctor wasn’t very great, but it felt like it took Hongbin ages to reach him. There was red trailing down from Wonshik’s temple. His lip was split, and his foot was pointing a direction that Hongbin didn’t think should have been possible.

“Wonshik!” he called, still unable to hear anything but ringing as he reached a hand out to try and shake the doctor awake. Wonshik didn’t respond, eyes closed and head lolling to the side.

_Unconscious_.

Hongbin tried to focus his eyes as he looked down, noticing a sharp piece of glass sticking out of where Wonshik’s waist would be. The skin there was now nothing more than a mess of cuts and scratches, visible through the tattered fabric of his plum colored shirt.

“Fuck,” Hongbin heard.

The curse sounded muffled and far away, but he realized it had come from himself.

He _could_ think. He knew what was going on, but he didn’t understand any of it. He knew Wonshik was hurt, but he _couldn’t_ figure out what that meant.

_Where is Jae?_

He had been lying across the doctor’s lap, so he must be around here somewhere. It wasn’t like he would have just walked off, or Hongbin didn’t think so.

The gamer turned his head, noticing the two strangers from before lowering a body to the ground behind him. All he could see was a mess of blood and silk, strands of blue matted with red. A long-fingered hand covered in silver rings, hanging limply, nails brushing the pavement.

_Fuck_.

He tried to crawl that way, but the hands were back on his shoulders, holding him still.

Hongbin realized he was _screaming_.

He could hear it now, if faintly. Could feel his mouth open as he squeezed his eyes shut. Jaehwan’s name leaving his mouth in a wordless cry. 

There was a blinding flare of orange light.

A wave of heat rolled over him like nothing he had ever experienced.

_What the hell was that?_

Blackness.

\----

Hakyeon got the message at two in the morning, the buzz of his phone on the nightstand waking both the criminal and the second in command.

Sanghyuk jolted awake, ripped from a dream of his beloved’s sweet lips, bubbles, clouds. “What is it?” he asked, sitting straight up in bed and watching as Hakyeon squinted at his bright screen.

“Oh _shit!”_ the second in command shouted, rolling off the bed so fast he nearly fell flat on his face. “Get dressed, we need to go! Now!” he continued, not turning as he yanked on a pair of Sanghyuk’s sweats that were lying on a nearby armchair.

“What’s happening?” the criminal asked, bewildered, as he got to his feet. “Wonshik and Jaehwan got in a car accident! We need to go the hospital!”

_That_ was… “When!?” Sanghyuk exclaimed, shimmying into a pair of dark wash jeans. They were the first item of clothing he found, but they would work. “Around midnight, the police chief just informed me! It was really bad apparently, Hongbin was driving and they got broadsided! A hit and run!”

“Fuck!” the criminal hissed, dragging a sleeveless hoodie over his head and grabbing his phone from the night table where it lay next to Jaehwan’s watch. “Come on, we’re taking my car.”

Sanghyuk drove, Hakyeon in the passenger seat of his Aston Martin, running every red light he saw and going 130mph on the highway. Two black SUV’s with 8 of his most trusted men were following behind, and the criminal couldn’t hear any of his second’s shouts to ‘slow down you dickhead’ because Bullshit by G-dragon was playing too loudly.

The leader of the Han Crime Family entered the hospital like a _fucking tornado_. Hakyeon at his side and his men around him in a diamond formation, Sanghyuk’s combat books thudded with each step as he stomped right past the nurse’s station and directly to the elevators. His second had texted their main contact on the way over and had been assured the three patients were in the most luxurious wing, and they were all currently sharing the largest room.

Everyone stared, but nobody asked the criminal a single question. The staff recognized him on sight and having 8 guards was as good as wearing a sign that said, ‘Do Not Approach’.

Two hours. It had been _over two hours_ since the crash. By his estimation, Sanghyuk had been sucking Hakyeon’s dick at the time, which made him feel _just great_. Why hadn’t he fucking stayed at the penthouse like Jaehwan asked him too?! If he had stayed, Jaehwan would be safe in his bed, Wonshik would have never left the compound, and whatever Hongbin would have been doing, he probably would still be in one piece! Not that Sanghyuk actually cared about the gamer, but he knew Jaehwan would.

The police chief had said in his message to Hakyeon that the bodyguard in the car had died on impact, which was another thing weighing on his conscious. The second one, the one who had been right behind them in Sanghyuk’s Range Rover, had seen the collision and made a statement, but he was currently out with a few officers to try and find the car that cause the accident. Sanghyuk needed to speak to him, thank and reassure him, but tomorrow.

“Here, they’re in here,” Hakyeon murmured, pointing to a door on the left side of the hallway. Sanghyuk didn’t stop to breathe or think, pushing the door open as his men fanned out along the wall outside.

When Sanghyuk entered the room, the first thing he saw was a pair of police officers. Their navy uniforms stood out in stark contrast against the white paneling on the walls, and both snapped to attention when they realized who he was.

“Mr. Han, sir,” one of them said, both bowing respectfully, but Sanghyuk wasn’t listening. The second thing he saw was Wonshik and Hongbin in hospital beds. Both were conscious, if a bit dazed, and Sanghyuk said a silent prayer of thanks as he dropped to his knees beside his best friend.

“Sanghyukkie? You’re here? Or am I dreaming?” Wonshik mumbled, grinning stupidly at the criminal. He was shirtless, bandages wrapping around his stomach and an IV in his arm. His busted lip didn’t seem to hurt, and neither did whatever was under the gauze on his temple. “I’m here, how do you feel?” Sanghyuk asked, trying to dial back his own near manic sense of terror.

“He’s off his ass on morphine, you probably won’t get too many coherent responses,” Hongbin said from behind the criminal. Sanghyuk stared at the splint on Wonshik’s ankle. His entire foot was one big purple bruise. “What happened,” the criminal snapped, turning on the two cops and channeling all his remaining anger into the glare he aimed at them.

One gulped, and they exchanged a glace, before the other replied, “Mr. Lee’s car was hit broadside at what seemed to be considerable speed. He and Dr. Kim were on the driver’s side and so suffered less injuries than the others. The street they were on was crowded, and civilian’s managed to pull three of them from the wreck before the car exploded, the fourth man was already dead.”

“You should have seen my car, it looked like it got hit with a fucking wrecking ball,” Hongbin muttered, not sounding all that coherent himself. “Details. Tell me everything you know, leave nothing out,” Sanghyuk ordered, all his attention focused on the officers.

“So far, we know the vehicle that hit them was big. Black and non-descript, a bit too non-descript in our captain’s opinion, a Chevy with no plates. We put an APB out on it, and it should be easy to spot since we are assuming it took some damage. At first look, it seems the car picked up speed just before the crash, hitting Mr. Lee’s Volvo between 60 and 70 miles per hour.”

“What else?” Sanghyuk prompted, his mind running too fast to even begin to contemplate where Jaehwan was. He _couldn’t_. “Mr. Lee was pulled from the car first and sustained the least serious injuries. Dr. Kim was still conscious, or slightly conscious, and the men who got him out said he was mumbling about France before he passed out. The third one, the one with blue hair, he’s…”

“He’s _what?”_ Blue hair? The criminal didn’t know anyone with blue hair, he wanted to know about Jaehwan! “My autumn boy looked like a doll. He had blue eyes too,” Wonshik said in an almost singsong voice, squeezing the hand Sanghyuk was holding. “He said something like that before the crash, still not sure what it means,” Hongbin said, sounding weary.

“The one with blue hair, Lee Jaehwan… he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. His injuries are rather… worse.” Sanghyuk felt a chill run through his body. “Lee Jaehwan does not have blue hair, his hair is black” he said, trying to reassure himself. There _must_ have been a fifth person in the car. “He used hair spray and colored contacts to try and hide from the paparazzi,” the gamer replied, sighing before he continued, “I saw them pull him from the car, it was bad. Really bad.”

“Where is,” Sanghyuk started to ask, but Hakyeon interrupted, “He’s here.”

The criminal stood without realizing it, his legs carrying him over to the curtain Hakyeon was standing in front of. The second in command’s face was drained of color, his eyes wide and mouth agape. When Sanghyuk pulled back the curtain, his heart stopped.

Jaehwan was lying on a bed identical to the others, only with a lot more wires and tubes. He was in a hospital gown, but he looked like a corpse. His alabaster skin was so deathly pale, one of his arms in a cast, as well as two fingers on the other hand. His nails were almost as blue as his hair, which was sticking up haphazardly from a crown of bandages around his head. His entire body was covered in cuts, the deeper ones with fresh stitches keeping them shut. The deepest one Sanghyuk could see was shaped like an X over his right eyebrow, extending up his forehead and under the bandages. His lips and eyelids were almost lilac.

“Oh _god_ ,” Sanghyuk whimpered, any attempt to keep it together leaving him in a rush. He didn’t feel the tears before they came, spilling down his cheeks, hot and salty. _‘Make him better, please, let me take his place,’_ the criminal prayed, the plea silent in his head as he steadied himself with a hand on the foot of the bed.

“It could have been a lot worse, the doctors said so. He’s lucky to be alive,” Hongbin called from the other side of the room. “They can’t give him morphine because of his condition, so he’s on a lower grade painkiller. He should wake up in a few hours, but I wish he wouldn’t. He should stay under longer; I don’t want him to feel all that.”

“We never got to race,” Sanghyuk mumbled, trying not to sob as his thoughts spiraled out of control. “He- he kept saying he want to race me, but I was always too busy.”

“He’d kick your ass in a race, no doubt. Especially if he’s driving Bae,” Hongbin replied, and Sanghyuk choked on a hysterical laugh. He wanted to touch Jaehwan, but he couldn’t see a spot on the hacker’s body that was free from damage. Nowhere _safe_ to touch him.

“Sugar, sugar, _sugar_ ,” Wonshik was saying, still in that singsong voice. “Will you shut up? You’re babbling is giving me a headache,” the gamer whined, but Wonshik just laughed. “You said the car was _too_ non-descript, what did you mean?” the criminal asked, whirling on the officers. He needed to do something, so he didn’t feel so fucking helpless.

“Uh...um,” one stuttered, clearly surprised by the heat burning in Sanghyuk’s eyes. “The chief is of the opinion that the crash was premeditated. Witnesses saw the black car speed up, it wouldn’t have hit the Volvo otherwise, and leaving the scene is already suspicious in of its self. Excuse my boldness sir, but you do have some unpleasant enemies. With all that’s going on, Mr. Jaehwan and Dr. Kim being purposefully targeted isn’t too difficult to imagine.”

The ice in Sanghyuk’s veins promptly burst into flames.

“Targeted,” he hissed, staring at nothing for a heartbeat before rounding on Hakyeon. The second in command already had his phone out. “I’ll make inquiries, but if that’s true then there was probably Jung involvement,” he murmured, keeping his tone to a suitable bedside register.

A knock on the door.

“What?” Sanghyuk spat, forcing his legs to take him back across the room, his insides tearing with each step he took away from his beloved. One of his men cracked the door open and peaked inside, saying quietly, “A man named Taekwoon is here to see Mr. Lee Hongbin. He is insisting that he be allowed in, but he looks an awful lot like Jung Leo.”

“Taek?!” Hongbin exclaimed, groaning as he sat up a little. “He can come in,” Sanghyuk said quietly, fury coagulating under his skin. Jung Leo was here, no doubt to check on the success of his family’s mission. The criminal would show him.

“Kong?!” a soft voice called as the door opened wider. Sanghyuk had never heard Jung Leo speak before, but he couldn’t muster the extra energy it would take to be surprised. The instant he appeared on the threshold, the criminal grabbed him by the front of his t-shirt and yanked him inside.

Leo looked stricken, something at odds with every photo Sanghyuk had ever seen of his expressionless face, but again, no surprise. Just anger. “Look what your people did, bastard,” the criminal growled, dragging the infamous thief across the room. “Look at him, look what you did to my beloved!”

Sanghyuk couldn’t look at Jaehwan, feeling as though he would shatter if he did, but he made sure Leo could see him. The thief gasped, stopping his attempt to free himself instantly. “Jae… oh my god,” he whispered shakily. “This is Hoseok’s doing, I know it is! He loves hurting people I care about more than anything! And look at Wonshik! My best friend!”

The criminal pulled Leo away from the hacker, dropping him in front of Wonshik’s bed. “Hi Taekwoon, you look _weird_ ,” the doctor mumbled, giving the thief a disjointed wave. “And him! I know you two are close, how could you hurt your own friend like this?” Sanghyuk hissed.

He hadn’t actually taken a good look at Hongbin until this point, but he saw now that the gamer’s left arm was in a sling and there were several shallow cuts on his cheek. He had looked worse, Sanghyuk knew that from experience.

“Kong! You’re alive!” Leo, or Taekwoon said, falling to his knees beside Hongbin’s bed. Sanghyuk guessed he should call the thief by his proper name now. The two began whispering to each other, too quietly for the criminal to hear, as Taekwoon dropped his head in the gamer’s open palm. He looked like an overgrown hamster.

Sanghyuk felt a tug on the back of his hoodie and turned around to look at Wonshik. His best friend was still grinning, clearly enjoying the drugs, as he murmured, “My autumn boy speaks French.”

“Who’s your autumn boy, Shik, do you mean Jaehwan?” Sanghyuk asked, his train of thought derailed for about the thousandth time. “Yes,” he replied, drawing out the _S_ sound. “He’s autumn. Warm and cold. Warm, and cold, and French.”

“I don’t know what the first part of that nonsense means, but speaking of French, one of you needs to call Jae’s mom. None of the nurses would let me near a phone, and she isn’t on his emergency contact list, but she should be here. And tell Seokjin while you’re at it. Oh, and send someone to take care of that hairball of a cat,” Hongbin said, wincing a little as the thief helped prop him up on his pillows.

“You do it, his mom knows you. Let me just text Seokjin, hold on,” Sanghyuk replied, letting Wonshik play with the fingers on one of his hands as he pulled up the coder’s chat thread on his phone with the other.

**You:**

_‘Seokjin, we have big issues. Jae, Wonshik, and Hongbin got in a really bad car crash. They are all in the hospital, and Jae is very seriously injured. I know you’re out of town, I just thought you should know.’_

He exited out of the chat, switching to the dial pad before handing his phone to the gamer. The room was silent for a moment, Hongbin holding the phone up to his ear before he said, “Ma, Jaehwan is à l'hôpital.”

Sanghyuk blinked. Why was the gamer speaking French? Sanghyuk knew a bit of the language, although he was better at English, but it struck him as odd. He, Taekwoon, and Hongbin all flinched at the sheer volume of the person speaking on the other end of the line.

“Il y avait un accident de voiture, I’m stuck in here too, but you should come see him. He’s alive but in bad shape,” Hongbin was saying, straining to sound calm. “Il est vivant. Moi, je suis persuadé qu'il est vivant.”

Vivant meant alive, the criminal new that much. There was a bit more talking, Sanghyuk only able to pick up a word here and there with Hongbin switching between French and Korean at a speed that was almost dizzying. “She’s on her way, as soon as she can call a cab,” the gamer said, hanging up the phone and handing it back. “And just get ready, because she’s probably not what you’re expecting. Jae gets his… everything from her.”

The weirdness of that statement didn’t sink in. Hakyeon was still standing by Jaehwan’s bed, and Sanghyuk slid the curtain back as quietly as he could, sitting on the floor between the doctor and the unconscious hacker. He dropped his head in his hands, trying to shake off some of the bone deep fatigue that washed over him. The cat could wait until tomorrow, she would be fine for a few more hours.

_‘I do know that I love you, and I want to be with you.’_

\---

Wonshik’s morphine was wearing off, which was a real fucking shame in his opinion.

What had previously just been a dull ache in his side was now beginning to throb, making him wince every half a minute or so. He understood why they were staggering his doses, being a doctor himself and all to familiar with the world’s opioid epidemic. But it was still a shame.

Sanghyuk was on the floor next to his bed, his head against the wall and eyes staring at nothing, holding Wonshik’s hand. He looked distraught, hair disheveled from running his fingers through it too many times and eye’s rimmed in red. Who could blame him, with Jaehwan lying right there, looking like… _that_.

A commotion from out in the hall drew Wonshik’s attention just as he was about to fall asleep. Sanghyuk shot to his feet, and they all watched as a strange woman opened the door. She entered the room in a whirlwind of sound and rustling skirts, nearly smacking one of Sanghyuk’s men with her overlarge purse.

She was curvy, Wonshik put her in mid to late 40’s, with caramel hair cut very short and full lips that were twin to Jaehwan’s. She was Caucasian which surprised the doctor, even though he had sort of known what to expect, with eyes so startlingly green they almost looked like emeralds.

“Mon chaton!” she exclaimed, voice deep, honey dripping from each syllable. She dropped her purse on an empty chair and flew at Hongbin, dotting kisses on both of his cheeks before cupping his face in her hands. Her nails were long, painted crimson. “Hongbin, what happened! Where is he? Je veux voir mon beau garcon!”

The gamer smiled halfheartedly before pointing to the opposite side of the room. The woman turned, almost shrieking when her eyes found her son. She released Hongbin instantly, quickly crossing to Jaehwan’s bed without sparing a glance for Wonshik or Sanghyuk, the heels of her boots clicking against the tiled floor.

“He’s alive, I promise. I know he doesn’t look it, but he’ll be alright,” Hongbin called after her. Jaehwan’s mother didn’t cry, which surprised Wonshik further. _He_ wanted to cry every time he allowed his eyes to wander in Jaehwan’s direction. She just fussed over him, making sure his pillows were straight and pulling the thin hospital blanket higher on his chest.

Wonshik watched her. She had on a royal blue blouse, tucked into the waistband of a black skirt that flowed down to just above the top of her black boots, with a black silk scarf around her long neck. She even had on lipstick. It was strange to see someone so put together, considering it was 3:30 in the morning and she had been rushing to come visit her injured son in the hospital.

After several minutes of fussing, the doctor didn’t have another word for it, she turned and stepped in front of Wonshik’s bed. “What is your name? Were you in the accident too? I’ve seen you on the news, I think,” she said, in heavily accented Korean, scooping up the hand Sanghyuk had dropped. “That’s Wonshik, Jae’s new doctor I told you about,” Hongbin replied.

“Mon dieu! You are much too handsome to be a doctor!” she exclaimed, swooping down and kissing both Wonshik’s cheeks. He felt himself blush, and he smiled as she smoothed his hair back off his forehead, motherly. “Like he said, I’m Wonshik, and I am in fact a doctor.”

“Thank you for taking care of my son,” she said, patting the doctor’s cheek fondly before turning to Sanghyuk. He hadn’t said a word since she came in, either shell shocked or scared, Wonshik wasn’t sure.

“And you, I know you, mon cher. You are my Jaehwan’s boyfriend, the famous politician!” Sanghyuk visibly flinched, but he leaned down a little to accept the cheek kisses. “My name is Charlotte, we must get to know each other, yes?”

The criminal nodded, smiling weakly as he bowed. “My name is Han Sanghyuk, it’s lovely to meet you. I just wish the circumstances were different.”

Charlotte squeezed his arm, turning to glance at her son before whirling away. “Yes, well. We must soldier on. I brought coffee and freshly baked madeleines. I made them last night, and I thought my boys would be hungry,” she said, pulling an enormous thermos and Tupperware container out of her bag.

Sanghyuk looked out of his depth in a way Wonshik had never seen before. Charlotte was pouring steaming black coffee into the Styrofoam hospital cups meant for ice chips, and the criminal was staring at her, bewildered. “Eat, you especially Taekwoonie. I know how much you love my food,” Jaehwan’s mother said, handing a cup and madeleine to Hongbin and the thief.

“Thanks Ma,” Hongbin replied, taking a sip and humming with delight. “She used to give Taek cooking lessons,” he continued, sounding like he was sharing a confidential secret and earning a pinch from the thief. “Thank you,” Wonshik and Sanghyuk said in unison, each also taking a cup and pastry. If Hakyeon were here, he would be drooling, but the second in command was at the police station working on his inquiries.

“This is delicious,” Wonshik said, already feeling fortified by the caffeine and calories in his system. Charlotte flashed a brilliant smile, passing him a second pastry as soon as the first was gone. “There are enough for your friends outside, mon cher,” she said, handing the container to Sanghyuk and nudging him towards the door. Sanghyuk went, meek as a puppy, slipping out the door in silence.

“He is much taller than he looks on the television, no?” Charlotte asked, winking at Hongbin before taking a seat in one of the armchairs against the wall. “My thoughts exactly,” the gamer replied, setting his empty cup on the table next to Taekwoon. “And, where is mon caneton? I assumed he would be the first one at my Jaehwan’s bedside in a situation like this.”

“Seokjin is out of town, but it sounded like he was making arrangements to come back early,” Hongbin said, his voice getting drowsy. Charlotte hummed as Sanghyuk reentered the room, the supply of madeleines now severely diminished. She waved the criminal over, waiting until he sat on the floor at her feet before patting her knee.

“He will be ok, mon cher, my son is a lot stronger than he looks,” Jaehwan’s mother said softly, Sanghyuk’s head in her lap, running her fingers soothingly through his hair. The criminal closed his eyes, looking painfully young. Mothers had a weird effect on him, Wonshik thought, before drifting off to sleep.

_French Translation:_

_à l'hôpital =_ **In the hospital**

_Il y avait un accident de voiture =_ **There was a car accident**

_Il est vivant =_ **He’s alive**

_Moi, je suis persuadé qu'il est vivant. =_ **I am certain he’s alive.**

_Mon chaton =_ **My kitten**

_Je veux voir mon beau garçon =_ **I want to see my beautiful boy.**

_Mon dieu =_ **My god**

_Mon cher =_ **My dear**

_Mon caneton =_ **My duckling**

**Chapter 34: The Confusion**   
**Summary:**

**Hongbin didn’t know what to do.**

  
**Notes:**

**I'm the most horrible cliche.**

_The Confusion:_

_The criminal dreamed about a race track, all winding turns and smooth asphalt. The sky was a pale lilac, exactly the current shade of Jaehwan’s lips._

_Sanghyuk was sitting in a wing backed chair beside the finish line, the watch he had given the hacker on his own wrist and a porcelain cup of coffee in one hand. The cup was alabaster in color, fragile, Lily of the Valley painted to form a wreath around the rim, a classic silhouette depicted in the center. Indigo black, the side profile of someone with short wavy hair, a sharp jaw, and a large pointed nose._

_Lily of the Valley smells lovely, small and delicate, unquestionably beautiful. But it is an extremely poisonous flower, Sanghyuk thought. An odd choice for decorating tableware._

_He heard the high-pitched whine of an engine in the distance, growing louder each second, but he couldn’t see any cars._

_He turned his head to the left, then the right, nothing but track stretching on endlessly before disappearing into the horizon. When he looked directly in front of him, Jung Hoseok was standing on the opposite side of the checkered finish line._

_Sanghyuk’s enemy was draped in a floor-length coat of bloody scarlet, his unnaturally red hair fluttering in a breeze the criminal couldn’t feel, a wicked grin on his face as he prowled slowly across the track. Hoseok had two arrow straight scars through his right eyebrow, meeting in the middle to form an X._

_His enemy had a gun, Sanghyuk noticed, aimed at an opaque shadow hovering beside the criminal’s chair. Before Sanghyuk could get a good look at it, the shadow vanished, and he realized there was a thin snake with cobalt scales coiled around his wrist, its dark eyes glittering and head resting on the face of Jaehwan’s watch._

_Hoseok’s gun was pointed at the criminal now. He couldn’t have been more than five paces away, the smile on his face growing more menacing with each step he took. The engine was louder, almost deafening, but still no car. Sanghyuk sensed the danger of the situation, but he didn’t feel worried or bothered by it at all._

_‘You’re going to fail. You’re going to die,’ Hoseok whispered, standing directly before the chair as he trained the barrel of the gun between Sanghyuk’s eyes._

_The snake wrapped around the criminal’s wrist hissed, baring its fangs as it slid to the ground. It never landed, morphing in an instant to take the form of Jaehwan. The blonde Jaehwan, in the blue suit he wore for their first meeting. He was wreathed in golden white light that was nearly blinding._

_The hacker’s teeth were bared like the snakes. He was snarling, a deep growl of a sound, and Sanghyuk realized it wasn’t an engine he was hearing, it was Jaehwan._

_The hacker stood between the two criminals, his back to Sanghyuk like he was trying to shield him. A crown of sterling roses sat atop his soft blonde hair. Or… no. On second glance, it was a crown of thorns, their tips dipped in silver and sharpened to a razors edge. His slender hands were curled into fists, and Sanghyuk looked at the ring on his fourth finger. Where the hacker would put a wedding band, if he was married._

_The solitary ring was an ouroboros. Half black and half white, a snake wrapped three times around his finger as it ate its own tail. Sanghyuk saw it swallow. It was alive._

_Hoseok laughed, a throaty, mirthful chuckle, pressing the barrel of the gun to the center of Jaehwan’s forehead._

_He pulled the trigger and the world literally flipped upside down._

_Sanghyuk fell. Fell out of his chair straight down into the lilac sky. He looked up at the ground, a concept which seemed perfectly reasonable, watching Jaehwan’s golden light fade as his body crumpled to the asphalt of the race track, just before the finish line, not crossing it. Sanghyuk knew his beloved was dead._

_‘I win. You lose. You always lose, this game is getting too easy,’ Hoseok’s voice whispered, the words harsh, each syllable cutting the criminal’s skin like a scalpel. Sanghyuk felt himself scream, but he could only hear his enemy’s cold laughter as he fell into the lilac sky. Alone._

\---

“I came back from a romantic couple’s weekend in Jeju for this, so you all had better be on the edge of death!”

Sanghyuk was jolted from sleep for the second time in six hours, this time by the shrill voice of Kim Seokjin as he stomped into the hospital room. The criminal had drifted off with his head still on Jaehwan’s mother’s lap, and he cracked his neck as he straightened up, just in time to see Jung Leo hurl a plastic cup at the coder’s head.

“Mon caneton!” Charlotte exclaimed, standing and sweeping Seokjin up in what Sanghyuk thought was an overly familiar embrace. “Hey Ma, I brought breakfast. Joonie has it,” the coder said cheerfully, patting the sleeping Hongbin’s foot as he made his way to the curtain around the hacker’s bed.

Seokjin stopped so suddenly it looked as though he physically hit a wall. Sanghyuk could only see his back, but he couldn’t begin to imagine the expression on the coder’s face. Seokjin didn’t speak a word, standing completely still as the others attention was drawn back to the door.

Hongbin had woken up, peering groggily around and rubbing sleep from his eyes, but Wonshik was still out. “Breakfast delivery,” Namjoon said, his voice much more suitable for a hospital than his husbands, backing into the room with a plastic bag in each hand. “Thanks, I hate hospital food,” the gamer replied, shifting a little as Charlotte gave Namjoon the same cheek kisses she gave everyone else. The Lee’s were a very physically affectionate family, it seemed.

“Ma! It’s been too long, you look radiant as always,” Namjoon said, charming, before he and Jaehwan’s mother began conversing in rapid French. Why did they all call Charlotte ‘ma’? She wasn’t all of their mothers. It was odd.

Sanghyuk stopped trying to understand what they were saying, keeping his eyes on the coder’s broad shoulders. He went to stand at Seokjin’s side, blinking away residual images from his nightmare and trying not to fixate on the slices through Jaehwan’s eyebrow. “I know it’s bad, but,” the criminal started to say, when his back suddenly made contact with the wall. Seokjin had shoved him. Hard.

“You _fix_ this. You find the person responsible and make them pay, do you understand me?” Seokjin snarled, backhanding Sanghyuk across the cheek before pointing an accusatory finger between the criminal’s eyes.

The fire in the coder’s gaze burned bright, and Sanghyuk was powerless in the face of his righteous anger, frozen from shock. “If you love him, if you _ever_ loved him, find the person who did this to him and filet them alive,” Seokjin spat, shoving the criminal again before whirling on his heels and taking a seat beside Jaehwan’s bed.

The room had gone totally silent. Wonshik had woken up now, and he was staring at Sanghyuk with a mixture of shock and fear. The criminal normally didn’t allow anyone to push him around, and his cheek stung like a bitch, but he wasn’t mad. More precisely, he wasn’t mad at the coder. “Jin!” Namjoon exclaimed, once the silence had stretched for a beat too long. “Not now Joonie, go get coffee,” Seokjin snapped, his eyes never once leaving Jaehwan’s face.

“I’ll find them,” Sanghyuk murmured, sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the floor, now mercifully unable to see the color of Jaehwan’s lilac lips. Seokjin crossed his arms, as replied coldly, “You fucking bet you will.”

\---

Hongbin was walking. Technically, he was pacing, but he was concentrating on the floor too hard to care much about the distinction.

Despite only being dislocated, his shoulder and upper arm hurt something fierce. But, Hongbin reasoned, he was lucky nothing worse had happened. The gamer had watched a few hours ago, after breakfast had been eaten and cleared away, as a nurse changed the bandage on Wonshik’s stomach. It had been bad, a long gash just over the V of his hip bone where the fragment of glass had stabbed, black thread holding it closed and still oozing a little blood. Sanghyuk had left the room when two more nurses began tending to Jaehwan, his big hands clenched into fists and an expression of pure agony. Hongbin had kept his eyes shut the entire time. He was such a fucking coward. They both were.

Namjoon had taken Charlotte out to lunch which was a blessing. The gamer knew having her come had been the right call, and he loved her like his own mother, but the constant fussing and clicking of her heels was starting to drive him up a wall.

“Why didn’t you contact your parents?” Doctor Boyfriend asked, breaking the 20-minute stretch of silence and taking a sip of water. Hongbin sighed, his feet carrying him up the length of the room in an unbroken rhythm.

“First of all, my parents are on holiday in the Maldives. Second, I love them, but we don’t really get along. And third, I’m not hurt too badly, and my parents would probably blame the whole crash on Jae because they hate him.”

Wonshik blinked and Sanghyuk’s head snapped up, black eyes piercing holes into the side of Hongbin’s head, but he didn’t stop his pacing. “Parents have a thing about Jaehwanie, nobody over the age of 35 has ever actually liked him,” Seokjin added, his gaze still fixed on his best friend’s face.

“What about Jae’s dad? You didn’t tell him and neither did Charlotte, as far as I’m aware,” Wonshik asked, groaning under his breath as he tried to sit up. Sanghyuk quickly stood to help him, and Hongbin said, “Jae’s dad is...”

He didn’t know how to finish the thought, so Seokjin did it for him. “ _Difficult_ would be putting it mildly,” the coder said, pausing for a beat before continuing to speak. “He and Ma are divorced. He drinks. And he hates the fact that his only son is gay.”

That was about as cursory an explanation as Hongbin could think of. The situation was more complicated than that, much more, but these two didn’t need to know the details right now.

“He cares about Jae’s sexual orientation when Jae is sick and dying? How could something as inconsequential as that be so important?” the doctor asked, sounding genuinely surprised. Hongbin glanced at him, seeing his puppy dog eyes wide and mouth turned down at the corners. The gamer smiled a little, against his will.

“You’re such a sweetheart, it’s adorable. How did you ever convince a complete softie like him to join your organization, boss-nim?” Seokjin asked with a laugh. Sanghyuk sniffed, obviously picking up on the sarcasm behind the honorific. He turned away to refill the doctors water bottle, so Wonshik was the one who answered.

“He didn’t convince me to do anything. We met when he was 15, and I was just graduating high school. I knew I wanted to become a doctor, and when Sanghyuk took control of the family, he paid off my medical school tuition and hired me as soon as I got my diploma. I wanted to work with him.”

“So, he bought you,” Seokjin said flatly, fiddling with the corner of Jaehwan’s blanket. “It’s not like that at all. My tuition was covered by my first years’ salary,” Wonshik replied, taking the bottle and sipping, a hand flat on his bare stomach like he was physically holding himself together.

“Shik isn’t just my family’s doctor. He’s my advisor and third in line for command if something happens to both Hakyeon and me,” the criminal said, his voice soft but firm as he fluffed Wonshik’s pillow.

That was a surprising bit of information that Hongbin would have never guessed in a million years. The affection clear in the criminal’s gestures were almost more telling than his words. Seokjin seemed to feel the same, and he actually looked up from Jaehwan to stare at Sanghyuk in disbelief.

“This- no offense Wonshik- this pacifist who’s scared of his own shadow is third in line for control of the Han family crime syndicate?” the coder asked, his tone betraying just how ridiculous of a choice he thought that to be.

Sanghyuk’s eyes narrowed, and Hongbin turned away, continuing to pace as the criminal replied, “Yes, he is. He’s smarter than both Hakyeon and I combined, and he comes up with things that we never could. Frankly, I can’t think of a better person to lead the family, especially if he and Hakyeon work together. You may think he’s a pacifist, but you haven’t seen him actually get angry.”

Wonshik smiled fondly at the criminal as Hongbin began his eighteenth lap of their shared room. “Wow Jinnie, doctor boyfriend and the baby psychopath really put you in your place,” the gamer said, forcibly injecting his tone with a note of humor.

The doctor nearly choked on his water, and Seokjin grabbed the nearest pen and threw it in the general direction of Hongbin’s head. “I’m nobody’s boyfriend,” Wonshik spluttered, once he had stopped coughing, eyes full of concern flicking towards the criminal.

“You sure _act_ like a boyfriend. Actually, you act like a textbook example of a pining, devoted boyfriend,” the gamer replied, a prickle of the hatred he felt in the club bathroom sparking in his chest.

Seeing the doctor and Jaehwan kiss, so at ease with each other it looked like they had been close for years. Forcing himself to wait until they stopped moaning before he knocked on the stall door, because he knew just how much his Jaehwanie hated being interrupted in the midst of his pleasure. Hongbin had blocked those feelings out after they woke in the hospital, everything completely eclipsed by pain and terror. But now, he was possessed by a need to be vindictive, vicious, because the gamer could see with his own eyes the effect his words were having on Sanghyuk. It tasted sweet on his tongue, the cruelty.

“You coo over him like he’s the most precious thing you’ve ever seen, it’s almost nauseating,” Hongbin continued, a mean smile spreading across his face. Jaehwan was the most precious thing Hongbin had ever seen, so the accusation came easily. He watched Sanghyuk wince and turn away again, Wonshik wipe his mouth with the back of his hand, and Seokjin shoot him a glare. “You saw me hit him earlier, and if you think I won’t do the same to you for instigating just because you hurt your arm, you’re dead wrong,” the coder snapped.

“There’s no reason to be nasty when we’re all staring to coexist without killing each other,” Sanghyuk said quietly, and Hongbin laughed. A deep, vibrant laugh that bubbled up straight from the pit of his stomach.

“That’s so rich coming from you! You beat me up and tried to shoot me twice, don’t speak to me about _coexisting_. Everything about this is your fault, it’s always been your fault! How you even have the _audacity_ to be here after breaking Jae every single day since he went to your stupid mansion, I have no idea. You keep saying you wanted to keep him safe, but you fail _spectacularly_ every time you try.”

The criminal stared at Hongbin for a full 10 seconds before essentially vaulting over the doctor’s bed to get at him. Apparently anticipating the move, Seokjin got in front of Sanghyuk and pushed him back against a wall, barely succeeding in stopping him from hitting Hongbin. Their conversation devolved into a shouting match, Sanghyuk yelling that the gamer was a _toxic little bitch_ , Hongbin laughing like a maniac and almost re-dislocating his shoulder, Seokjin shouting that they both needed to _grow the fuck up_. Wonshik was doing his best to sit up in bed, staring in the opposite direction like he was paralyzed.

Hongbin was so pleased with himself. Pissing Sanghyuk off was one of life’s greatest pleasures, he decided, and it was so unbelievably easy! He was almost doubled over, shaking with laughter and trying to steady himself on the foot of Wonshik’s bed. He was laughing so hard that he almost missed the little voice calling his name.   
  


_“Binnie-ah?”_

Sanghyuk froze mid curse, both him and Seokjin looking around like kids caught misbehaving. Hongbin’s laughter died in his throat as he stared over at Jaehwan’s bed. The hacker’s eyes were open.

God damn it. This was going to be so _hard_. The doctor had told them that, due to the severity of his head injury, Jaehwan probably wouldn’t remember the crash and one of them would have to explain how he ended up in this condition. Seokjin smacked the button on the wall that would summon a nurse, and the gamer hurried to Jaehwan’s bedside.

“I’m here, baby.”

“Binnie, it hurts. _Everything_ hurts.”

Jaehwan’s voice was croaky, and he squinted at the bright lights in the ceiling before letting his eyes shut once more. “I know, baby, I know it hurts,” Hongbin replied, kneeling down and wincing at the hacker’s almost inaudible whimper of pain. “Do you remember what happened?”

“Didn’t we have a dinner reservation?” Jaehwan asked, his breathing sounding labored, like each inhale and exhale was taking conscious effort.

Hongbin opened his mouth to reply but then closed it again. They _hadn’t_ had a dinner reservation, hadn’t gone on a proper date in over two months. He had no clue what Jaehwan was talking about, but the gamer was instantly filled with a sense of dread. Charlotte needed to get back here, and Hongbin wished Taekwoon could have stayed and skipped work. He felt a sudden longing for the support of his best friend.

“You and I- we were going to that Italian place that just opened with Seokjinie and Joonie… I wanted to show off my new Chanel jacket,” Jaehwan continued. “Oh _Jesus_ ,” the gamer heard from behind him, just as the door opened and a doctor and nurse hurried into the room.

The gamer stood up but didn’t move away any further as the professionals got to work, checking Jaehwan’s bandages and asking him all kinds of questions.

“Do you know what day it is, Mr. Lee?”

“August 16th.” He sounded so confident, saying the wrong answer like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

The doctor partially explained what happened, just that there was a car crash and what injuries he had. Jaehwan started at him blankly, not seeming to understand any of it, and he didn’t say anything else.

Once they finished tending to him, the doctor pulled Hongbin aside. “It may take a few days for his memories to come back. The trauma he sustained was more extensive than we first realized,” he said in a whisper, patting the gamers shoulder with a look of sympathy.

This was... Hongbin didn’t have the words. Halloween was tomorrow, Jaehwan’s favorite holiday. It was October 30th. Jaehwan thought it was August 16th. They had gone on that dinner date roughly 10 weeks ago, Jaehwan had indeed shown off his Chanel jacket, and paired it with a new set of diamond studs that Hongbin had got him as a present. Just because.

He always loved getting Jaehwan presents ‘just because’. Loved seeing the hacker’s eyes light up when a small box was placed in his hands. Loved the squealing shriek of excitement when he saw whatever the box contained. How Jaehwan would jump on him, hugging him with both his arms and legs like an extremely noisy koala.

But... but. Jaehwan didn’t remember breaking up with him. He didn’t remember what Hongbin had done with his best friend. That fact should make Hongbin happy. Having his wrong doing erased like it had never happened. But it didn’t. It _wasn’t_. He would have to explain it all over again. Explain that Jaehwan had left him, lived in a different apartment, had a cat. Did Jaehwan remember his ‘daughter’? Hongbin didn’t know.

The doctor finished speaking to Sanghyuk and left the room, the nurse following after him and shutting the door. The criminal looked like a cartoon character that had been hit on the head with a frying pan. Hongbin could almost see the little animated birds flying in circles around his dark-haired head.

“Who are you? Did you get in an accident too? Did we hit your car?” Jaehwan’s small voice asked, meek.

Hongbin looked over to see his head turned in Wonshik’s direction. Jaehwan didn’t recognize the doctor. Jesus. Wonshik didn’t answer, only shaking his head and staring back at Jaehwan with an expression of pure heartbreak.

“I recognize you,” Jaehwan went on, pausing to clear his throat and nodding at Sanghyuk. The criminal blinked, a wave of relief crossing his face before Jaehwan went on, “I’ve seen you on tv, you’re that kid politician. My mom likes you.”

Sanghyuk’s relief drained away, his skin going pale. “Jaehwanie... do you,” Seokjin murmured, unfreezing and releasing the death grip he had on Sanghyuk’s wrist.

“You have to see my Chanel jacket, Jinnie, it’s fantastic with diamonds,” Jaehwan interrupted, apparently forgetting about his newly unfamiliar roommates and closing his eyes again. “I _have_ seen it, pet. And it _was_ fantastic with those diamonds.”

A tiny smile curved up the corner of Jaehwan’s lips, and he whispered, “I would give anything to have seen your reaction, jealous brat,” before drifting off to sleep.

Hongbin didn’t know what to do.

**Chapter 35: The First Memory**   
**Summary:**

**“Do you know what the color lilac means?”**

_ The First Memory: _

Sanghyuk was sitting in an armchair, hands folded in his lap as he looked back and forth between Jaehwan and Wonshik’s sleeping faces.

It had been three days since the bad night. The crash. The criminal had only left this hospital for two hours in all that time, Hakyeon dragging him back to the mansion for a shower and a change of clothes. His second was handling the investigation with his customary efficiency, but Sanghyuk couldn’t even begin to try and help.

His body felt like how Jaehwan looked, although the hacker’s spirits were remarkably high, all things considered. Sanghyuk couldn’t bring himself to speak much anymore. Everything inside him had gone cold. Rotten.

“Do you want anything to eat? I’m going down to the cafe,” Hongbin asked quietly, standing up and slipping his wallet into the pocket of his jeans with the hand that wasn’t bound in a sling. The gamer had been discharged yesterday, but he had never left, staying by Jaehwan’s side as always. Sanghyuk glanced up, meeting the gamers questioning gaze with his own hollow eyes. He shook his head. The thought of food made Sanghyuk’s stomach twist. “Ok.”

Hongbin quit the room with barely a sound, leaving the criminal alone with his best friend, his long-standing employee, and his beloved. Seokjin was snoozing on a couch against the window, his hand tucked under his head and his legs stretched over the arm rest. His husband came and went, always saying he wanted to stay but inevitably leaving to handle business things. Namjoon was an executive for some company, Sanghyuk vaguely remembered it having something to do with music production.

His beloved didn’t remember him. That thought rang in the criminal’s head like a torturous mantra, night and day, every second of every minute of every hour. Jaehwan had confessed to him, _finally_ confessed after all that time spent denying Sanghyuk’s feelings, all those weeks of saying he couldn’t love...

Jaehwan hadn’t been lying. Sanghyuk was almost positive now. Wonshik had told him about how the hacker had behaved the night of the crash, before it. How Jaehwan had already been halfway to drunk when the doctor arrived, smoking in the kitchen with no shirt, several guest bathrooms littered with fragments of shattered mirror that Wonshik hadn’t noticed until right before they went to the club.

Jaehwan hadn’t told the doctor why Sanghyuk had been so angry with him. Hadn’t tried to garner sympathy the way Sanghyuk expected him too. Had kept the rejection secret, choosing instead to fall back on his favorite coping mechanism. Jaehwan had loved Sanghyuk for roughly five hours, before forgetting him completely. 

Sanghyuk was broken. He knew that the instant his beloved said he recognized the criminal from tv. But he couldn’t go. Couldn’t bring himself to ask Wonshik to switch rooms. The doctor had never tried to leave, slowly reintroducing himself to Jaehwan instead. Not once explaining that he had treated the hacker for two months and been his lover for what Sanghyuk guessed was half that time. He just laughed at Jaehwan’s dumb puns, told him how cute he was, discussed books and music they both liked. Jaehwan sang for him, and the doctor fairly melted.

How was it so easy for Wonshik? Sanghyuk had asked himself that question countless times but always came up empty. Maybe it was easier because he didn’t know Jaehwan said he loved them both. Sanghyuk had asked Wonshik if the hacker told him anything like that, but the doctor hadn’t known what he was talking about, saying the only person he thought Jaehwan loved was Hongbin. Wonshik hadn’t lost as much with the disappearance of Jaehwan’s memories. Didn’t have all this emotional baggage that was slowly pulling the criminal down into a pit of despair.

Sanghyuk dreamed of the race track and the lilac sky every time he shut his eyes. He saw Hoseok shoot Jaehwan over and over and over again. Saw the teacup with what he realized was Jaehwan’s silhouette, the ring of Lilly of the valley, the little blue snake. Jaehwan shielding him and Hoseok’s icy laughter. The hacker’s lips had returned to their normal soft pink once he started to recover, but Sanghyuk could never shake the lilac color from his mind. It was consuming him, tinting everything he saw.

He had done a bit of internet searching about those flowers, lily of the valley, learning that they were also called may bell’s and lady’s tears. The jury was out on what the flower symbolized. Some sources say they mean good luck and new beginnings, while others think they mean bad luck and should be only planted on graves. They can kill a person if ingested and are widely considered the flower of fairies. In Sanghyuk’s opinion, the flower was perfect for Jaehwan, not that plain white jasmine that Hongbin always bought him. Beautiful and dangerous. And they came in light purple. Perfect.

Sanghyuk’s phone vibrated in the pocket of his sweatpants. He fished it out, staring at the photo of Jaehwan on his lap, the ghost of that kiss tingling on the criminal’s lips, before tapping the notification.

**Thugyeon:**

_‘Still no trace of the car. The security footage of the intersection where the crash happened and a few streets around it have been wiped. I’ll keep looking. Please try and sleep, I’m worried about you.’_

Sanghyuk didn’t reply. He didn’t have the strength to reassure Hakyeon, say he was fine. He _wasn’t_ fine. He was the furthest thing from _fine_ he could imagine.

The door opened and Hongbin reentered the long room, two disposable coffee cups on a tray in his hand. He took a seat in the armchair beside Sanghyuk’s, mutely passing the criminal one of the cups before picking up a book he had been reading. Sanghyuk sipped it in equal silence, staring at Jaehwan’s sleeping face.

He and Hongbin had reached a sort of temporary détente after the hacker woke up. Neither wanted their constant bickering to put strain on Jaehwan’s already delicate mental state, and both had wordlessly agreed to pretended not to know each other. It would look suspicious, two people Jaehwan thought were strangers shouting back and forth for reasons he wouldn’t understand.

The gamer hadn’t corrected Jaehwan when he referred to Hongbin as his boyfriend, hadn’t explained that they broke up or that he had cheated. Seokjin hadn’t said a word about it either. It seemed like they were waiting for Jaehwan to remember on his own rather than put him through the pain of hearing it again. And nobody had mentioned the hacker’s new fame (or infamy, whatever way you want to look at it), the fact that his cams were publicized, or that the world thought he was in a relationship with his roommates’ friend. That’s all Sanghyuk was now, Jaehwan’s temporary roommates’ friend.

Blissful ignorance seemed to be doing the hacker good, no matter how badly it was hurting everyone else. He acted very much like himself despite his memory loss, shouting obscenities at the tv and begging Hongbin to bring him Cheeto’s and Chocopies. Still unable to stand due to a cracked rib, he had gotten one of those sponge bath things yesterday from an inconveniently handsome male nurse, and Sanghyuk had listened from the other side of the privacy curtain as he flirted _outrageously_ with the nurse the entire time. That seemed like a very Jaehwan thing to do. The curtain was entirely unnecessary, everyone in the room had seen Jaehwan naked at least once, but Sanghyuk was still thankful that he didn’t have to look at the full extent of Jaehwan’s injuries. He and Hongbin both left the room whenever his bandages were being changed, only Seokjin and his nerves of steel able to bare it, and Wonshik stuck there from his own immobility.

“What smells good?” Wonshik’s voice asked, pulling Sanghyuk out of his tangled thoughts. His best friend was propped up on one arm, looking around the room and blinking sleep from his eyes. Hakyeon had brought him clothes from the compound, and he had on a very fuzzy sweatshirt with light pink cuffs. A dopey smile crossed the doctor’s face when he noticed Jaehwan was still sleeping.

“Coffee probably,” Hongbin replied, not looking up from his book. “Mm yeah. Coffee. What’s for dinner?” the doctor asked. Charlotte had brought enough homemade food to feed a small army every night, and they were all turning spoiled and pudgy from the unending supply of her delicious cooking. Today was no different, she had left an enormous container of French onion soup and a tray of cheese soufflé’s when she came to visit Jaehwan an hour ago.

“Pure goodness. And Taek is coming in a little while, he said he’s bringing dessert,” the gamer replied.

Jaehwan didn’t seem to think it was odd that his mother was feeding the stranger’s sharing his room, perfectly used to Charlotte’s tender instincts. It a was very novel concept for Sanghyuk, a mother that actually cared. 

She always called the criminal mon cher, and Jaehwan didn’t comment on that either. Didn’t comment on how Charlotte would pet the criminal’s hair or squeeze his arm, the picture of reassuring kindness. Sanghyuk wished his own awful mother would have treated the hacker that way during their brief meeting all those weeks ago. Han Harin was frosty as a glacier where Charlotte was as warm as the sun. It made the criminal childishly jealous.

\---

It had been a week and a half, and Jaehwan still didn’t remember. Hongbin had finished seven books, gained at least five pounds from all of Charlottes food, and was declared healthy enough to be able to take off his sling, but Jaehwan’s memories hadn’t come back. His rib and arm had stopped hurting if not healed completely, most of his cuts scabbed and were beginning to scar, but nothing else.

“Wonshik-ah, I think this would look good on you. Do you want it?” Jaehwan asked, wobbling over to the doctor’s bed and plopping down on it.

Hongbin watched from his armchair beside Sanghyuk as Wonshik sat up and took the magazine the hacker was holding out for him. The seating arrangement had become way too routine for the gamer’s liking. This is where they sat now, he and Sanghyuk, always side by side, twin vigiles of the tableau that was Jaehwan’s recovery.

“Which one? There are like 17 shirts on this page alone,” Wonshik asked, grinning and running his finger down the glossy paper.

Jaehwan’s legs were still unsteady after not using them for a full week. He had gotten quite a shock when he finally looked in a mirror and learned his hair was black, not the white blonde he remembered. But he had been good natured about it, saying that he ‘was sick to death of getting his roots done, so imaginary Jaehwan had saved present day Jaehwan from more torture.’ That’s how he referred to himself when talking about the stretch of time he couldn’t remember, _imaginary Jaehwan_. He hadn’t said a word about the scars.

“I meant this one,” Jaehwan replied, pointing to something Hongbin couldn’t see. The doctor laughed, pinching the hacker’s ear as he said, “I’m not wearing something with that low of a V and laces up the front. It would look much better on you Jyani, you’re cute enough to pull it off.”

Jaehwan smiled brilliantly, preening the way he always did when the doctor showered him with compliments. “Well, I could find you better things if Binnie-ah would let me have my phone,” the hacker muttered, his smile morphing into a pout as he slit his eyes in Hongbin’s direction.

Hongbin glared right back, not letting himself be swayed. He had made the executive decision not to allow Jaehwan near the internet. It would be very bad, in his opinion, if Jaehwan stumbled onto a gossip website and found an article about his and Sanghyuk’s scandal, and the gamer wasn’t going to take that chance. So, he kept the hacker well stocked with magazines, books, and seasons of anime he downloaded onto an old tablet that didn’t have WIFI capabilities.

Huffing in obvious and adorable irritation, Jaehwan turned back to the doctor and continued, “Fine, if you don’t like that one, what about this?” He pointed to something else and Wonshik nodded thoughtfully.

Hongbin glanced to his left, noticing that Sanghyuk’s coffee was almost empty. It was part of their routine, alternating who would get refills, and this time it was the criminal’s turn. Sanghyuk, however, had regressed to that weird place again, staring at nothing and not speaking for hours. It was like sitting next to a melancholy zombie. Charlotte was at work, Seokjin was at work, Taekwoon was at work, and Hakyeon was at work (if you could call running a crime syndicate as a substitute for a depressed maniac _working_ ). It was just the four of them.

“Let’s go get fresh coffee, this has gone cold,” Hongbin said quietly, nudging Sanghyuk with the toe of his shoe. The criminal blinked and then looked over at him, taking a few seconds to register his words before nodding. “Where are you two going?” Jaehwan exclaimed, his voice way shriller than the question required. Hongbin held up his coffee cup as he and the criminal made their way to the door.

“Will you bring me some cookies please?”

“Yes, I know what you like.”

Sanghyuk flinched. It was a good idea that they both go. In this state, Hongbin wouldn’t put it passed the criminal to forget about drinks entirely and just sit in the café alone for several hours.

“Thanks, have a fun date!” Jaehwan called after them, his voice edged with mischief. Sanghyuk flinched again before Hongbin shut the door, the sound of Jaehwan’s ringing laughter cutting off abruptly.

The gamer and the criminal walked down the hall, past the usual 8 guards stationed along it, and stepped into the elevator. They didn’t speak, Sanghyuk just looked straight ahead with glassy eyes while Hongbin messed around on his phone. They made it all the way to the cafeteria in silence, Hongbin ordering two large black coffees and Sanghyuk wordlessly handing the checkout girl his credit card and a pack of Oreo’s for Jaehwan.

Hongbin didn’t want to go back upstairs yet, and he trusted that Jaehwan would be ok with Wonshik and the bodyguards, so he pulled the criminal over to a booth and sat down across from him.

“Hakyeon found a pet sitter for Jae’s cat. She visits twice a day and keeps sending me pictures,” the criminal said, surprising the gamer with the attempt to make conversation. Hongbin blinked. “That’s good, I totally forgot about it,” he replied, lifting his cup to his mouth for something to do.

A beat of silence.

“I contemplated bringing her here in the hopes that it might spark something in Jaehwan’s memory, but I figured that a cat in a hospital would be frowned upon.” Hongbin sighed. “I don’t think pushing him too much is a good idea right now.”

Another beat.

“When are you going to tell him?” Sanghyuk asked quietly, x-raying the gamer with his eyes as he took a sip of coffee. Hongbin blinked again. “He’ll remember on his own.”

“You know you can’t lock him up in your apartment and deny him technology for the rest of his life. He’ll either go mad or run away, possibly both.” There was no hint of accusation in the criminal’s tone, he was simply stating facts.

Hongbin met his gaze, trying to formulate a response that wouldn’t make him sound like a complete asshole. Sanghyuk waited.

“I know, I just… he’s been hurt so much already, I don’t want anything worse to happen.”

That wasn’t a good enough answer, and Hongbin knew it. Sanghyuk knew it too, but he didn’t push the line of conversation any further, apparently content to sit and stare over the rim of his coffee cup.

“What’s up with you dude? You’re acting like you’re dead inside and its starting to freak me out,” Hongbin asked, after the quiet between them had stretched uncomfortably long.

Silence.

“Jae confessed to me the night of the accident.”

Hongbin hadn’t been expecting that answer. He hadn’t actually expected to get an answer at all.

“He told me he loved me, and I said I didn’t believe him and left. That’s why he asked Wonshik to come over in the first place. He really does enjoy using sex as a coping mechanism,” the criminal continued, tone flat and emotionless.

“Oh,” was all the gamer could manage. This was very bad news in his opinion, but at least Jaehwan didn’t remember it.

A beat.

“Do you know what the color lilac means?”

“What?”

“The color lilac, do you know what it means?”

Hongbin blinked quickly several times, caught off guard by the criminal’s change of subject and weirdness of the question. “No.”

“All shades of purple are a mix of red and blue, both warm and cool tones. They inspire mystery and creativity. But lilac… lilac symbolizes nostalgia and romance, as well as delicacy. It’s exceedingly rare in nature, lilac. And as opposed to lavender which airs on the side of blue, lilac is almost pink. It’s childish and sociable and playful, but it can lead to lack of emotional control and moodiness in too high a quantity.”

How Sanghyuk could derive that much feeling from a color baffled the gamer. He had absolutely no clue what Sanghyuk meant, and he had never once pegged the criminal for the philosophical type. But it didn’t seem like an idle comment, and some of that fire that had been missing from Sanghyuk’s eyes had sparked as he spoke, so Hongbin simply nodded.

Sanghyuk didn’t speak again, and after a few minutes, Hongbin nudged him and they got back into the elevator. The criminal silently passed the gamer the Oreo’s, and they retraced their steps down the long corridor to the hospital room door.

Hongbin opened it, the criminal a pace or so behind him, just in time to hear Wonshik say, “I might not be as rich as you, sweet autumn boy, but I’m not poor. You don’t need to keep trying to buy me clothes.”

Both men came to a stuttering halt on the threshold, and Hongbin saw an expression of panic cross the doctors face when he realized he’d just slipped up. _Fuck._

Jaehwan stared at Wonshik, tilting his head to the side in that way that made him look so much like a puppy, his eye’s going glassy.

“Jae, I have c-cookies for you,” Hongbin said, his voice a touch too loud and the word _cookie_ catching on his tongue. The hacker didn’t reply, his hand hesitantly lifting to brush against Wonshik’s hair. _Fuck!_

The doctor sat so still it didn’t look like he was breathing. Jaehwan blinked once, twice, and then looked over at the door with a smile, his eyes filling with light once more.

“You two took your sweet time, fun date?” he asked, not noticing the doctor’s sigh of relief and making grabby hands at the cookies.

That was _way_ too close for comfort.

\---

_‘Sweetheart, you’re so beautiful.’_

_Jaehwan was on his back, lying on a fourposter bed he vaguely recognized, but the rest of the room was covered in a hazy sort of mist. The silk sheets were soft against his skin, a large hand pressing down on the center of his chest, fingers splayed wide and radiating heat._

_He looked up into Sanghyuk’s dark eyes, getting lost in their depths as the other boy thrust into him, slow and smooth. The stretch was overwhelming. Jaehwan felt so full, his breath coming uneven as he moaned, unable to control the sounds if he tried._

_Sanghyuk liked it when he was loud, he knew, liked to tease and tease and tease until Jaehwan was a crying mess in his arms. The other boys palm slid slowly up Jaehwan’s torso, curling his fingers in the hacker’s hair and yanking none too gently._

_That was what Jaehwan loved. Rough treatment. Being used. It made him feel so alive. He whined, tracing Sanghyuk’s abdomen with the pad of his index finger. The other boy was so hot, like there was a fire burning under his fair, unblemished skin._

_And he was so, so big, in every sense of the word. Sanghyuk’s broad shoulders and long legs made Jaehwan feel small and breakable, like the other boy could snap him in half anytime he chose. Jaehwan loved that too._

_“Mm, baby, f-fuck,” the hacker whimpered, gripping the sheets at his side and seeing stars as he felt the other boy hit his prostate. Sanghyuk smirked, tugging on Jaehwan’s hair again and squeezing the back of his thigh._

_Jaehwan wanted to kiss him. Needed to kiss him. He knew those pretty lips would tingle against his own, make him feel like he had gotten stuck by lightening. “Sang… hyuk, baby… please!”_

_The unasked plea was clearly understood, the other boy leaning down and sealing their mouths together, drinking in Jaehwan’s moans until there was no breath left in the hacker’s trembling body._

_Jaehwan cupped Sanghyuk’s face as the other boy fucked into him, nipping at Sanghyuk’s bottom lip and earning a low growl of pleasure. Sanghyuk’s jaw was so sharp, his mouth tasted faintly of mint and whisky. Jaehwan was enchanted. He smiled against the other boy’s lips, lightly slapping Sanghyuk’s cheek._

_He was flipped onto his stomach before he even registered the movement, back arching and toes curling as Sanghyuk thrust into him deeper and faster than before. “None of that sweetheart, you don’t want things to get out of control,” Sanghyuk murmured, his voice turning a little raspy, trailing open-mouthed kisses down Jaehwan’s spine._

_That’s exactly what he wanted. He wanted Sanghyuk to lose control, manhandle him, choke him, fuck him until he couldn’t walk. The other boy radiated energy and strength, but each of his movements restrained, like he didn’t want to accidentally hurt Jaehwan. The hacker could only imagine what would happen if Sanghyuk stopped trying to modulate himself and just let go._

_His big hands circled Jaehwan’s waist, the hacker whining Sanghyuk’s name as he came, his vision going white as he felt the other boy fill him up._

_The pleasure was unending, rolling over Jaehwan in waves, his back pressed the other’s broad chest._

Jaehwan sat bolt upright, his rib twinging painfully and his breath coming out in soft pants. He was in the hospital. Of course, he was. He was on a hospital bed, thin blankets tangled around his waist, feeling clammy and flushed.

He had a sex dream about Wonshik’s weird and intimidating friend. That was… that was _not_ ok. Sure, the guy was hot as sin, and the tiny dimple in the center of his bottom lip was more than endearing, but the only person Jaehwan should be dreaming about was Hongbin.

It was probably just a biproduct of the longing Jaehwan had been suffering from recently. He hadn’t been touched in almost two weeks, an unthinkable span of time. Hongbin had denied him the last time Wonshik was getting a scan or something and they were alone, saying that Jaehwan was in no condition to even try. Jaehwan had persisted, but his boyfriend snapped that he wouldn’t let the hacker take dick with a broken arm and cracked rib. He had walked out, claiming he needed more coffee, leaving Jaehwan to suffer alone. The hacker hadn’t tried again after that.

Jaehwan peered around through the darkness. He saw the unmistakably shape of his boyfriend’s body, stretched out on the couch, his chest rising and falling in the easy rhythm of sleep. He could hear his new friend Wonshik snoring in the bed next to him, but the noise didn’t bother the hacker. He found it kind of cute, actually.

“Are you alright?”

Sanghyuk had materialized out of nowhere, standing at the foot of Jaehwan’s bed, his black hair and black pants and black shirt rendering him almost invisible. Jaehwan nearly jumped out of his skin, despite the softness of the taller boy’s voice.

Jaehwan looked at him wide eyed, the image of this boy fucking him to ecstasy flaring bright and vibrant in his mind. He didn’t know Sanghyuk, the tall boy hadn’t said more than four sentences to him in total since they met. His dark eyes were empty and expression neutral, nothing like the passionate, smirking man in Jaehwan’s dream.

“Are you alright?” Sanghyuk repeated, long strides noiseless as he crossed to the nightstand and poured a glass of water. He handed it to the hacker, looking down as Jaehwan swallowed hard. “Yeah, I’m- I’m fine.”

“Nothing hurts?” the other asked, fluffing Jaehwan’s pillows almost absently. The hacker’s throat felt dry, and his whispered ‘no’ was almost a croak before he downed the water in one go.

Sanghyuk watched him, waiting for Jaehwan to finished drinking before taking the cup away again. His large, strong hand rested on the hacker’s shoulder, pushing him gently back down onto the pillows. Jaehwan could feel it, the raw power hidden in the measured movement. He was being tame. Maybe he taught himself to be tame at all times, but it couldn’t completely disguise his strength. The hacker felt dazed.

“Can you- would you mind saying the word sweetheart?” he asked, making sure his voice was quiet enough not to wake the others.

The tall boy’s eyes flashed in the darkness like someone shined a light in his face. There it was, the barest hint of the inner fire Jaehwan had seen in his dream. He hadn’t meant to ask, the question had just slipped out, but now he waited with bated breath for the answer, needing to hear the word in the boy’s voice for real.

Sanghyuk stared at him for so long that Jaehwan started to fidget. He didn’t think Sanghyuk was going to say it. Why would he? He didn’t know the hacker, owed the hacker nothing. But then…

“Sweetheart.”

The word was a purr, Sanghyuk’s lips forming it with deliberately pronounced enunciation, as familiar to the hacker’s ear as his own name. Jaehwan’s body reacted automatically, without the awareness or consent of his brain. His heart fluttered, chest swelling with a fondness so strong it nearly knocked him breathless.

A sudden and very unwelcome string of images flashed in the hackers’ mind. Sanghyuk’s hand knotted in his hair, cock heavy on his tongue as he fucked Jaehwan’s throat. Hot water raining down on them as Sanghyuk fingered him on the tiled floor of an enormous shower. Sanghyuk, asleep with his head against the hacker’s chest, their limbs tangled together in that bed from Jaehwan’s dream.

This wasn’t happening. It was all too much, Jaehwan’s overactive imagination was playing a cruel trick on him. He didn’t know this quiet boy, so different from the smooth-talking politician he saw on the news. He _didn’t_. None of that had happened. It _hadn’t_.

“Do you need anything else?” Sanghyuk asked, his eyes twin pools of obsidian, searching the hacker’s face for something Jaehwan couldn’t even begin to guess at. Jaehwan shook his head vigorously, nearly cracking his neck as he blinked up at the tall boy.

Sanghyuk nodded, his face betraying none of his thoughts. His eyes flicked towards the window for a split second before he turned away, sitting back down in the armchair on the other side of the room. Jaehwan followed the line of his gaze, turning to see that Hongbin had woken up.

They looked at each other for a moment, guilt and shame warring for control of Jaehwan’s conscious. How could he be thinking those filthy things when he already had the most wonderful and devoted boyfriend a person could ask for?! He was the worst kind of slut. This wasn’t news, but it hit Jaehwan particularly hard in that instant.

He silently blew Hongbin a kiss before closing his eyes, trying to chase away the lingering image of Sanghyuk’s smirk. It didn’t work.

**Chapter 36: The Blackout**   
**Summary:**

**After his press engagement ended, Sanghyuk killed someone.**

  
**Notes:**

******IDK what this is, but what ever it is, its graphic. there's a bit of blood, so just watch out for that******

_ The Blackout: _

“He’s starting to remember!” was the first thing Wonshik heard when he woke up. Hongbin basically shouted it at him, sounding extremely put off, not excited like the doctor would expect.

“Too loud too early dude,” Wonshik muttered, trying to hide his face under a pillow. “It’s not early, it’s 11 am, and I don’t know how long this test will take so you need to wake up!”

Wonshik groaned, forcing himself to sit up and rub the sleep from his eyes. Getting stabbed in the gut hurt like a mother fucker, and the doctor decided he would do everything in his power to avoid it happening again. His side ached even now. “Where is everyone? And what did Charlotte leave us for breakfast?” he asked, swinging his legs over the side of his bed and hobbling to the bathroom.

“Jae is having some test done and they said I couldn’t go, and the baby psychopath left a note saying he had to do a press conference but that he would be back by lunch,” the gamer snapped, trying to follow Wonshik inside before the doctor locked the bathroom door.

Once his morning routine was complete, he took a deep breath and walked back into the main room to find Hongbin lying on the floor like a starfish. “He asked Sanghyuk to call him sweetheart at like two in the morning,” the gamer grumbled, his handsome face contorted with annoyance.

“That’s a good thing, it mean’s he’s finally recovering. Why do you sound like someone just pissed in your cereal?” the doctor asked tiredly, stepping over him and rummaging through the duffle bag Hakyeon brought for something to wear. He and the hacker were both being discharged tomorrow, and Wonshik couldn’t be happier at the idea of sleeping in his own bed again.

Something collided with the back of his head, and the doctor turned to glare at Hongbin. “I’m injured! Don’t throw shit at me!” he exclaimed, but the gamer rolled his eyes and snapped, “You’re a doctor, suck it up and help me figure out what to do!”

“Being a doctor doesn’t mean I’m incapable of feeling pain! And do about what?” Wonshik asked, resuming his rummaging. “What to do about Jae!”

“You mean when he remembers you cheated on him and he dumped your sorry ass?”

Hongbin growled something unintelligible but Wonshik ignored him, gingerly stepping into a pair of sweats and pulling a green hoodie over his head. He sorely missed being able to dress nicely.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He wouldn’t quit bugging me for sex this morning and I ended up giving him and hand job in the shower to shut him up. I’m genuinely surprised you didn’t wake up, he’s so loud.”

Again, the gamer’s tone was one of frustration. It completely baffled Wonshik, the idea that someone could be annoyed by having to touch Jaehwan in any capacity. “How is that bad news? Aren’t you happy to have him back?” the doctor asked, trying his best not to sound bitter.

“I _would_ be, if Sanghyuk wasn’t always looming in the corner spoiling it!” Hongbin exclaimed, glaring at Sanghyuk’s empty armchair. “You are going to help me keep him away from Jae until we leave tomorrow,” he said suddenly, turning his eyes back on the doctor.

Wonshik laughed loudly, collapsing on his bed and turning on the TV. He flipped to a news station before replying, “I absolutely am not. Sanghyuk knows someone helped you get into the compound and if he finds out it was me, I’m dead. Literally dead. I’m not doing it again.”

The ferocity of the look Hongbin gave him made Wonshik flinch. “I told you last time, the baby psychopath is no good for him. If you somehow forgot that fact, look around. We are in the fucking hospital. Jae’s face his cut up and he has three broken bones. It’s all Sanghyuk’s fault, he’s lucky we weren’t all killed.”

“You know it’s not his fault that you cheated, right? You can’t blame him for all your problems,” Wonshik shot back. He couldn’t deny the truthfulness of Hongbin’s words, so he was trying anything he could think of to change the subject.

“He and Jae kissed before I ever did anything! I have a recording of it!”

That took the doctor by surprise. “What?” he asked, too shocked to continue arguing. “Yeah! When he was helping Jae set up his computers or something! I heard it! They kissed!”

Wonshik took a deep breath. That was information to mull over later. Right now, he needed to convince Hongbin to leave well enough alone. “What are you going to do when you get him to your apartment and all his stuff is gone? He already knows somethings wrong, what with you not letting him have a laptop or his phone!”

“I’ll tell him we got a second place. He’s always wanted one,” Hongbin replied, not even pausing to think. “Being away from Sanghyuk won’t stop him from remembering. You’re deluding yourself if you think he will just forget all of this permanently.”

As if on cue, the criminal’s voice burbled out of the tv behind the gamer, and they both turned to look. Sanghyuk was front and center, Hakyeon on his right, both dressed in suits. It looked they were at a ribbon cutting ceremony in front of a playground. The tagline under the live feed read, _‘Rising Political Star is the Sole Benefactor of New School for Disadvantaged Children’._

Sanghyuk’s expression was the one he usually had on television, pleasant, but with a hint of arrogance and a dash of flirtatiousness in his eyes. "It’s an honor to have been able to build this school from the ground up. Not everyone is born with the same agency, but each child deserves an education that will help them succeed in life. I wish the students the best of luck with their homework and exams, fighting!" the criminal was saying.

Hongbin huffed under his breath as the reporters all started talking at once. Wonshik couldn’t make out any of their questions, but Sanghyuk’s eyebrows raised in apparent surprise. He held up a hand and silence fell once more, before he said, “I heard a lot of you ask why Jaehwan isn’t here. Unfortunately, my partner was injured in a serious car crash several days ago and is currently recovering. I assure you that he is getting better and would have loved nothing more than to be here at my side today, but thank you for the overwhelming support for our relationship. It means the world to us. I’ll be sure to take him out when he’s healed so you all can get lots of good pictures.”

With a wink and final wave, Sanghyuk was ushered away by his personal security detail. Wonshik had seen the slight lowering of Hakyeon’s eyelids, the only outward sign of displeasure at the mention of the hacker. The doctor would bet his left arm that the second in command would have words with the criminal once they were safely in the car.

Wonshik had been keeping up with the gossip about Jaehwan and Sanghyuk, so he knew that the vast majority of the public did in fact support them. Sanghyuk’s first statement in the lobby of Jaehwan’s building had gotten a ton of people on their side, especially the younger demographic and older women, his two main bodies of support. That was why is had been so shocking to learn that the hacker had been getting death threats, everybody seemed fine with him now.

“That slimy mother fucker! How can he just stand up and lie to people’s faces like that?” Hongbin exclaimed, turning away from the TV to glare at Wonshik like it was the doctor’s fault. “He’s a politician, lying to people’s faces is basically his job description.”

“He’s not! He’s a dangerous, violent criminal, and if you don’t help me keep him away from Jaehwan, I’ll tell him you’re the one who helped me.”

\---

After his press engagement ended, Sanghyuk killed someone. Not just a random person he found on a street corner, someone who deserved it. Jung Jinyoung, to be specific.

The man had been rotting in his basement for roughly a month, and in all that time, he hadn’t given Hakyeon or the criminal a single piece of useful information. His death hadn’t been gruesome or anything, a single bullet straight through the temple. Sanghyuk was having his body delivered to Jung Hoseok’s compound with a warning not to try and hurt members of his family again. The idiot was much more helpful dead than alive.

He felt good this morning, better than he had in days. An enemy was dead, his school project was complete, and Jaehwan remembered his pet name. What more could Sanghyuk ask for?

After changing into a suit that didn’t have blood all over it, Sanghyuk and Hakyeon returned to the hospital. They had picked up coffee on the way- Sanghyuk made sure to get a large black coffee for Hongbin since the gamer bought last time- and were now walking down the hall to the hospital room.

“You’re oddly cheerful for someone who just ended a human life,” Hakyeon muttered, shooting the criminal a look that bordered on mutinous. Sanghyuk grinned. “He had it coming,” the criminal replied, before pushing open the hospital room’s door.

Wonshik and Jaehwan were sitting on the couch playing cards, the gamer observing from his usual chair. The hacker’s loud laughter died away the instant their eyes met, and Sanghyuk was grateful he decided to dress nicely, not put on jeans like he wanted. This made much more of an impression.

“You changed clothes,” the doctor remarked, but when met with the criminal’s questioning look, he added, “We saw your press conference.” _Ah._ Sanghyuk had been hoping they hadn’t.

“I got a stain on my other suit, it’s being cleaned,” the criminal replied easily. It wasn’t a lie; he just didn’t say where the stain came from. “It was my turn,” he continued, handing the steaming coffee to the gamer and ignoring his rather cold glare. The criminal could imagine Hongbin not being very happy about his televised story of Jaehwan’s accident.

He turned to the two on the couch. “A mocha Frappuccino for Dr. Kim, and a cookie for the little hacker, since you aren’t allowed caffeine.” Wonshik snatched his drink from Sanghyuk, while Jaehwan took the paper bag with much more hesitancy. Jaehwan had described what he did for a living in detail to Wonshik the day after he woke up, and the doctor had listened so attentively that one would never guess they lived and worked together for over a month. Sanghyuk knowing that Jaehwan was a hacker shouldn’t ring any alarm bells.

“Angel, don’t eat that. You had almost an entire package of Chips Ahoy less than thirty minutes ago, you’ll get a stomach ache.” _God_ , Sanghyuk thought, looking at the gamer over his shoulder, Hongbin was worse than Jaehwan’s actual mother! “Let him live a little. He’s in the hospital, he’s allowed treats,” the criminal said, turning back to look at Jaehwan and winking.

“Say that one more time,” Jaehwan murmured after a pause, his eyes going a bit glassy, glued to the criminal’s own.

“He deserves treats?” Sanghyuk repeated, confused. He was fairly certain that sentence had never left his mouth until today, and probably never would again. “No, no. The first thing you said when you gave us these,” Jaehwan replied, tapping the lid of Wonshik’s drink and holding out his cookie.

Somewhere behind him, Hakyeon cleared his throat. “A mocha Frappuccino for Dr. Kim, and a cookie for the little hacker, since you aren’t allowed caffeine,” the criminal said slowly, trying to read the hacker’s expression for any change or hint of recognition.

“You’ve called me that before,” Jaehwan whispered, leaning forwards to peer at Sanghyuk’s face more closely.

“No, I haven’t. You’re little and you’re a hacker, I’m sure you’re thinking of someone else. It’s probably a very common nickname,” Sanghyuk replied automatically, but Jaehwan was shaking his head.

“I’m almost 6 feet tall, I’m not little to most people. I’m actually kind of big.”

“You’re skinny, that’s what I meant by little.”

“Say it one more time. I’m sure I’ve heard you say those words, right before you…”

Jaehwan flinched, hastily averting his gaze and scooting to the spot on the couch that was furthest away. He looked panicky all of a sudden, and Sanghyuk racked his brain to find a time he had said it. He couldn’t think of one, usually only calling the hacker Jae or Sweetheart. He hadn’t ever called him little… _oh._

“Can I speak to you outside for a minute?” Hongbin asked, not waiting for a reply before crossing the room and opening the door. Sanghyuk went, trying to guess what the hacker was mumbling to himself as he left the room.

Hongbin was already on the side of the hall that stopped at a dead end, and as soon as the criminal reached him, the gamer snapped, “Why are you trying to trigger him all of a sudden?”

“I’m not _trying_ , he keeps remembering stuff on his own!” Sanghyuk replied, going on the defensive.

“You _have_ called him that before, when you kissed him, and he and I were still together. I heard it.”

That stupid microphone in the computer monitor would be the death of Sanghyuk. He absolutely despised knowing that Hongbin had listened in on some of his and Jaehwan’s private moments. “I forgot,” the criminal hissed. It was true, he _had_ forgotten. That kiss wasn’t the one he treasured most. Their second was the one that was always first and foremost in his mind.

“And did you wear that on purpose? It’s the same awful suit you had on when you broke into my apartment!”

Sanghyuk glanced down at himself, thinking back. “That was honestly unintentional.”

“You’ve got to stop. Did you see the look on his face? This whole thing is freaking him out. Just leave him alone until we’re gone tomorrow.”

Sanghyuk licked his lips, doing his absolute best not to roll his eyes. “So, you’re actually going to do it? Lock him up in your apartment and tell him nothing?”

“Yes.”

“Even though you are aware of just how stupid it is?”

“Yes.”

“Ok Hongbin, I’m going to say this as nicely as I can because I’m starting to like you for some reason. You need to let Jaehwan go. You’re going to make yourself sick if you keep on doing this, and it isn’t fair to either of you,” the criminal said, keeping his tone even and dropping a hand on the gamers shoulder.

“You’re just jealous that he remembers me and not you. He and Wonshik even get along the same, but he doesn’t like you anymore. That must suck,” Hongbin replied, his tone turning nasty as he shrugged off the criminal’s hand.

Sanghyuk wouldn’t hit him this time. He could see the gamer was jonesing for a fight, but he wouldn’t start one. It was neither the place nor the time. “Dude, just enjoy it while you can, ok?” he asked, patting the gamers shoulder again despite his grimace.

The criminal turned to go, trying to ignore Hongbin’s reply. “Even if he does remember, he’ll hate you for turning him down. He doesn’t take rejection well. If he’ll go run off with anyone, it’s doctor boyfriend, not you.”

That could be true, but Sanghyuk would cross that bridge when he came to it. For now, he would continue acting as if he and Jaehwan didn’t know each other.

When he reentered the room, Jaehwan was lying with his head in Wonshik’s lap, letting the doctor play with his ear while he nibbled his cookie. He looked so cute in his oversized sweat suit that it took everything in the criminal’s power not to pounce on him and smother him with kisses. But he didn’t. Instead, he took a sip of coffee and sat down in his armchair.

“What did Binnie-ah want to talk about?” Jaehwan asked, looking suspiciously at Sanghyuk and taking a bite of cookie. The criminal had gotten him a sugar cookie with lots of pretty rainbow sprinkles, the cutest cookie he could find. If one could actually call a piece of food ‘cute’.

“You two being discharged tomorrow, we are going to fill out paper work at the same time,” Sanghyuk replied, grinning at his second in command. Hakyeon had his arms crossed, tapping his foot with obvious disapproval.

Hongbin didn’t come back for over half an hour, during which time Sanghyuk lost at cards to Wonshik three times, Hakyeon left to go work on the investigation, and Jaehwan stared unblinkingly at the criminal’s face. Sanghyuk did his best not to feel flustered by it, but his poor gaming performance was probably telling enough. When Hongbin did eventually return, the reason for his absence became clear.

“I arranged for you to be discharged early. I have to go to a meeting, but I’ll be back in a few hours to take you home,” Hongbin said, his tone leaving no room for argument. Sanghyuk looked at him in disbelief as he gently lifted the hacker off the couch and settled him in the center of his bed. “Take a nap, we’ll be out of here soon,” he continued, pressing a kiss to Jaehwan’s forehead and tucking him in.

“Why?” the hacker asked, sitting up and sounding as surprised as Sanghyuk felt. “Because, if you’re healthy enough for shower sex, you’re healthy enough to sleep in your own bed. Go to sleep, I’ll be back soon,” Hongbin called over his shoulder, giving the criminal a look for pure disgust before he left once more, this time with his phone and coat.

Jaehwan blushed scarlet, the tips of his pointy ears as red as his cheeks. Sanghyuk was almost 85% sure that the hacker was _not_ healthy enough for sex, no matter the location. Why would Hongbin have let the hacker do that when he nagged so much about everything else? Was he just that desperate to have Jaehwan back in his arms?

“We didn’t… we just,” Jaehwan said, looking quickly back and forth from the criminal to the doctor. Apparently realizing that he didn’t need to make excuses, the hacker sighed, falling back onto his pillows. “I should probably nap too, I didn’t sleep very well last night,” Wonshik said to no one in particular, the plastic boot around his injured food thudding as he walked to his bed.

As much as Sanghyuk would like to stare at Jaehwan’s sleeping face, he decided to join the other two and take a nap. After barely sleeping for two weeks, the opportunity to rest was a precious thing he couldn’t turn down. The criminal plugged his earbuds into his phone and put one in his ear, soft ballads lulling him to sleep.

_The criminal dreamed about a race track, all winding turns and smooth asphalt. The sky was a pale lilac…_

Sanghyuk jolted awake, stomach in knots. He grabbed the arm of his chair, but slowly released it when he realized he wasn’t actually falling. That dream was going to give him a heart attack one day, he was absolutely sure.

The room had gone quiet. Sanghyuk reached into his pocket to restart his music, but he made the sudden and unpleasant discovery that his headphones weren’t connected to anything. His phone was gone. He looked up. Wonshik was asleep in bed. Jaehwan was also gone.

_Fuck_.

Frantic, the criminal looked around the room, noticing as he did that the bathroom door was shut. He jumped up and knocked on it as quietly as he could but got no response. He put his ear to the wood, just able to make out the sound of distorted digital voices.

He cracked the door open and stuck his head in, taking in the sight of Jaehwan sitting on the tiled floor, tears rolling down his cheeks, the audio recording of their second kiss Sanghyuk had stolen from the gamer’s phone playing out loud.

Jaehwan looked up at him, eyes wide, wiping his runny nose on his sleeve as Sanghyuk stepped into the bathroom and locked the door.

“I don’t know you… I can count the number of times you’ve spoken to me on one hand…” the hacker said, voice faint and shaky. Sanghyuk knelt in front of him, trying to take his phone, but Jaehwan scooted away until his back hit the wall.

“Jaehwan, give me the,” the criminal began, ignoring the very obvious kissing noises emanating from the speakers, but the hacker interrupted him. “That’s my voice! My voice and your voice!” he exclaimed, looking more terrified by the second.

“It isn’t you, Jaehwan. Let me have my phone back,” Sanghyuk replied, forcing his tone to sound calm as he inched slowly towards the hacker with his hand outstretched.

‘What about now?’

‘Fucking fireworks.’

“I know what I sound like! That’s me!” Jaehwan replied, his voice getting higher pitched. “It’s not you,” the criminal said, but the hacker wasn’t listening. “And these! These are pictures of me! Of us!”

Jaehwan clicked off the recording, pushing Sanghyuk away with his foot as he went to the phones photo library. He scrolled to the one of Sanghyuk kissing his cheek, the picture that the criminal knew was still the background on Jaehwan’s own phone. Then, one of the paparazzi photos from their first date, them holding hands as they walked into the restaurant. Finally, a screenshot Sanghyuk had taken from a recording of the statement he made in Jaehwan’s lobby, their arms around each other and the hacker looking up at him like Sanghyuk was his rock.

_Shit._

“That’s me! Don’t try to tell me it isn’t because I know my own clothes when I see them! Not to- to mention my own face!”

“Jaehwan,” Sanghyuk said, his tone sharp with warning, but he knew it was too late to stop this.

The hacker had switched to his video library and hit play, turning the phone around so the criminal could see the security footage of them having sex in his kitchen. The camera didn’t record sound, but it didn’t have too, the memory of Jaehwan’s honey sweet moans echoed around his head anyway. The hacker had erased that footage from the mansions database, but he had relented and allowed Sanghyuk to keep a copy of it.

“You have a sex tape of me! I’m your lock screen!” the hacker shouted, his fingers trembling as he locked the criminal’s phone, staring down at the photo of them kissing. “There are messages… texts… you and Seokjin. You said you would kill Binnie… that I had passed out… Cheeto’s.”

Sanghyuk was trying to come up with an explanation, something to tell the hacker so he wouldn’t lose it completely. But he didn’t think he could lie his way out of this. Jaehwan had seen way too much.

“And there’s texts from someone named Beloved with me as their contact photo, you called them my name! Some of them are so… dirty!”

The hacker’s whole body was shaking, his chest rising and falling unevenly, hiccups catching in his throat. It was pure instinct that had the criminal folding Jaehwan in his arms, settling him between his legs, stroking his hair and tearstained cheeks.

“I dre-dream about you. I know things about you, but I don’t know how I know them. I d-don’t know you.”

Frantic knocking on the door, Wonshik’s voice asking what was going on. Sanghyuk ignored it, rubbing small circles on Jaehwan’s back.

“What do you know about me?” he asked quietly, closing his eyes as Jaehwan dropped his head against the criminal’s chest.

“How strong your ha-hands are.” Hiccup. “How young you lo-look when you’re sle-sleeping.” Hiccup. “How mu-much you like to tease.” Hiccup.

Sanghyuk inhaled through his nose. This was going to be _awful,_ but he needed to at least try and calm Jaehwan down.

“I caught you when you tripped four days ago and carried you to your bed, that’s how you know that I’m strong. I’ve slept in the same room as you for two weeks, it’s only natural that you know how I look when I’m asleep. And I bug Wonshik all the time, that’s how you know I like to tease people.”

Saying those things had actually been worse than he thought it would be. All of it was true, he hadn’t technically lied, but half-truths still stung. The criminal felt a sob rack Jaehwan’s body. Despite all his mother’s food, the hacker was thinner and lighter than he had ever been. More reminiscent how he looked when they first met than the skinny but healthy boy whose bathtub the criminal had sat in fully clothed.

“The boy in the pictures is my partner. His name is Jae-Kwang, so it must have been a typo if I wrote your name. He looks a bit like you, that’s all.” _Lie. Lie. Lie._

Sanghyuk looked down at the hacker in his arms. The plains and angles of his face were sharper, dark circles under his chocolate brown eyes. The cuts on his face and neck that had scarred a light pink, and the X through his right eyebrow would now be there permanently. Again, Sanghyuk thanked whatever god was listening than he hadn’t seen the hacker’s full body. He didn’t know if he would have been able to bare it.

Jaehwan lifted his head, eye’s glassy, salt trails down his cheeks. A single teardrop fell from the point of the hacker’s chin, Sanghyuk rubbing the inside of the hacker’s narrow wrist with his thumb.

“Who are you?” Jaehwan asked, voice nothing more than a choked whisper.

Wonshik was still knocking, jiggling the doorknob and calling the criminal and the hacker’s names. Sanghyuk focused on Jaehwan’s scarred eyebrow, not directly meeting his gaze and trying to inject his voice with all the sincerity he didn’t feel.

“I’m the kid politician from the TV that your mom likes.”

Jaehwan’s face drained of all it’s remaining color, Sanghyuk’s heart skipped several beats.

“You’re lying. I know you’re lying, I can see it,” the hacker whispered, scooting out of the criminal’s arms as fast as he could. He whimpered in pain, most likely putting too much pressure on his arm that wasn’t fully healed yet, clutching the criminal’s phone in his other hand.

Sanghyuk had a _very_ good poker face. There was no way Jaehwan would be able to tell. He tried reaching for the hacker again, but Jaehwan was already typing in his phone code, his birthday, as if from memory. Not a single second of hesitation as he pressed the keys ‘0705’.

“I invented this emoji; I know you were texting me. It was _me_ ,” he continued, sticking the phone in Sanghyuk’s face so he could see the weird heart eyed thing with too many sparkles around it. “I’m sure other people use that emoji too.”

“No!” Jaehwan exclaimed, eyes filling with fresh tears as he tossed the criminal’s phone into the corner of the bathroom. It mercifully landed on a towel. “No, that’s mine! You gave that to me!” Pointing to the navy and gold watch on Sanghyuk’s wrist. He had put it on the first time he went home after the crash and never taken it off. “It says that love doesn’t tell time, look, I’ll show you!”

Jaehwan grabbed the criminal’s wrist, fumbling with the watches clasp. Sanghyuk gently, very gently, freed himself from the hacker’s grip, shaking his head.

The hacker may be starting to remember, but Sanghyuk could tell that saying too much of the truth right now would just freak Jaehwan out even more. He didn’t want to give any weight to the hacker’s suspicions.

“You called me sweetheart!”

“You asked me too.”

“You told me you love me!”

“It was a dream.”

The expression on Jaehwan’s pretty face could only be described as one of _betrayal._ Pure and undiluted betrayal. He looked like Sanghyuk had just knifed him in the back.

He curled in on himself, knees against his chest, hands tangling in his own hair as his eyes completely lost focus.

“You are a _liar.”_ An accusatory whisper.

“Jaehwan, listen to me.”

“Liar.”

A thin line of crimson dripping from his pointy nose.

“Jaehwan! You’re bleeding!”

“Liar.”

Blood rolling past the corner of his perfect mouth. More knocking. Louder.

“Jae, can you hear me?!”

“Liar.”

Sanghyuk’s mind had gone blank with panic. He cupped the back of Jaehwan’s head, tilting it up using his own sleeve to try and stop the hacker’s nosebleed.

He had no clue what he was supposed to do or say, but all his resolve broke down in an instant.

“I do love you, ok?! You are my sweetheart and I’ve loved you for months! Just relax and try to breath out of your mouth!”

“Liar.”

_God damn it!_

Wonshik was outside. Wonshik, who is a _doctor!_

The criminal scooped Jaehwan into his arms, trying to ignore his chorus of “Liar, liar, liar,” as he stood up, blindly unlocking the bathroom door with the hand around the hacker’s back.

“What were you two- Jesus fucking Christ!” Wonshik exclaimed, taking in Jaehwan’s insane appearance in one sweeping glance. “Help him quickly before Hongbin gets back. If a nurse sees him like this, they won’t let him leave!”

“I don’t think he _should_ leave!” his best friend replied, pulling Jaehwan from Sanghyuk’s arms and laying him on his own bed. “If someone asks, I’ll say I got a nosebleed in my sleep because it’s so dry in here,” Wonshik hastily explained, pinching the bridge of the hacker’s nose as blood dripped onto his pillow.

Once the bleeding had slowed to a trickle, he took his phone from the nightstand and shined the flashlight in Jaehwan’s eyes. Nothing happened.

“Sanghyuk, what the fuck did you do?” Wonshik asked, lightly slapping Jaehwan’s cheek before pressing two fingers to his pulse point. “He stole my phone when I was asleep and started looking at shit! I found him crying on the bathroom floor when I woke up!”

“Liar.”

“Jae, baby, if you can hear my blink twice,” Wonshik said, speaking directly into Jaehwan’s ear. Nothing. “We need a nurse. I have no medical supplies or anything, and he isn’t responding,” he continued, turning to look at Sanghyuk with a frightened expression.

Sanghyuk stared, open mouthed, as Jaehwan’s sightless eyes fluttered shut. “Shit! Ok, get something to clean the blood off and get him a new sweatshirt from his bag,” Wonshik ordered, and the criminal turned away to comply.

He slid his now bloodstained suit jacket off, discarding it on his armchair before wetting a washcloth and handing it to the doctor. Wonshik began dabbing it on the hacker’s face and neck, Sanghyuk rummaging through his duffle bag and grabbing the first hoodie he could find. It was _lilac._

“Give that to me,” Wonshik snapped, grabbing the garment from the criminal’s hands. “It’s really bad, I won’t blame you if you want to turn around,” he continued, voice softer. Sanghyuk couldn’t look away, watching with blank horror as the doctor lifted up Jaehwan’s shirt.

It was worse, so much worse than Sanghyuk expected. Jaehwan’s collarbones had two nearly identical scars running vertically through them. What looked like claw marks from a wild animal stretched over his soft tummy. That adorable tummy that the criminal had kissed so many times he’d lost count. His chest and side were bruised a sickly green, and he had gotten so thin that the Sanghyuk could clearly see the outline of his ribcage poking out from his pale skin. There was a diagonal red line across one of his biceps, stretching almost all the way from his shoulder to his elbow.

“I warned you,” Wonshik said in response to the criminal’s gasp. He finished changing Jaehwan into the clean sweatshirt, before the criminal and the doctor began a whispered argument about what they should do.

“We have to tell Hongbin.”

“Not a chance, he will literally shoot me with my own gun.”

A soft cough, a clearing of a throat.

Both men turned back to the bed, realizing that Jaehwan was propped up on one elbow, eyes totally clear and looking back at them curiously.

“I’m sorry, but who are you? Where am I?” he asked, combing his fingers through his black hair and smiling at the pair. Sanghyuk felt his heart physically break.

Quiet.

“I’m Dr. Kim. You’re in the hospital, you got in a car accident. Your boyfriend will be here to pick you up in a few minutes,” Wonshik replied hesitantly, filling the silence after it had stretched on for too long.

Jaehwan’s smile widened at the word boyfriend, and he gingerly slid off Wonshik’s bed. His legs were wobbly, and the criminal’s hand shot out to steady him on instinct. “Thanks,” the hacker said, patting Sanghyuk’s forearm before toddling over to the bathroom.

_Fuck._

**Chapter 37: The Act**   
**Summary:**

**“Angel, how could you think I would do that to you?”**

**Notes:**

**I'm sorry I write like a bad telenovela**

**End Notes:**

**Hongbin's character pisses me off as I write it lol**

_ The Act: _

“Binnie-ah, what are you cooking?” Jaehwan asked, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend’s middle.

Hongbin was chopping green onions, an apron Jaehwan bought him for Christmas last year over a white dress shirt and charcoal grey slack. His sleeves were bunched up around his elbows, accentuating his perfectly toned arms, top button open. He was a vision of absolute perfection.

His dimples flashed as he smiled, tilting his head back a little to press a kiss on Jaehwan’s cheek. “Beef stir fry,” Hongbin replied, setting the onions aside and beginning to slice carrots.

“Were you out? I slept almost the entire day away,” Jaehwan said, nuzzling the side of Hongbin’s neck.

Jaehwan slept most days since he got back from the hospital six weeks ago. Hongbin had explained that they had been driving home from a club when someone broadsided their car, and that the hacker had hit his head. He explained that Jaehwan was in the hospital for a few days before they got home, but he still wouldn’t say why he wasn’t allowing the hacker to have a phone or go on the computer. Not that Jaehwan _actually_ cared. He was too tired most of the time to do anything at all.

“Yeah, I had a meeting with a producer. Someone decided that a video game competition would make a good web show, and they asked me to participate.”

“That sounds like fun, I can’t wait to watch you win,” Jaehwan murmured, listening to the crackling of the sesame oil popping in the frying pan heating on the stove. “Go pick a drama, baby, you shouldn’t be on your feet for too long.”

The hacker… could be even call himself a hacker anymore? He hadn’t done much hacking recently, too sleepy to stare at a computer screen for hours like he used too, even if Hongbin would let him. But he was a hacker down to his bones, so the title stuck. The hacker nodded, giving the gamers hips a squeeze and traipsing into the living room.

Jaehwan flipped on the tv, switching through channels until something caught his attention.

It was a news station showing a live feed of the mayor and someone Jaehwan vaguely recognized. A tall man, broad and dark haired, black eyes like a hawk. He was in a beautifully tailored pinstriped suit, and Jaehwan could see a navy banded watch with a gold face around his wrist. His hands, folded in front of him, were large.

‘This reform will serve to help thousands struggling under the poverty line. Thank you for your votes and support for my bill, I couldn’t have done it without you. And my partner sends his love,’ the man was saying, the corner of his pretty mouth quirking up in a smile. He radiated ease and strength, and something else that made it impossible for the hacker to look away. His tenor voice was oddly familiar, soft in the middle but sharp around the edges. And those hands...

The channel suddenly changed, loud animated gunfire blaring through the speakers. Jaehwan looked up, bewildered, blinking at the remote now in Hongbin’s hand. His boyfriends face had gone white, staring down at Jaehwan with an expression of blank fear.

“Babe, are you alright?” the hacker asked, turning to kneel on the couch, his stomach pressed against the backrest and hands settling on Hongbin’s hips.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I just wasn’t in the mood for the news.”

“You need to sit down, you’re so pale!” Jaehwan said worriedly, gently pulling Hongbin nearer so his knees bumped the back of the couch. “I’m alright, angel. Dinner will burn.”

Hongbin dropped a kiss on Jaehwan’s head, the pet name making the hacker smile. He loved when Hongbin called him angel.

The gamer returned to the kitchen, leaving Jaehwan to flip through the channels until he settled on a drama about time travel. The female lead was running through a hallway, her boots slapping against the laminate floor until she burst through a door into something that looked like a laboratory. Or, not a laboratory. A sick ward. White walls, expensive equipment, a dark wood desk. And... a padded examination table right in the center.

A boy, a man really, sun kissed skin and a pearly white smile. A sigil tattooed on his forearm... and other places too. Silky hair that shifted from silver to purple/black.

Jaehwan blinked. He saw that man sometimes, just random flashes. He didn’t think the man was actually a real person, only a figment of his overactive mind. His imaginary friend.

The girl on the tv was shouting at some poor guy now, yelling about a wormhole manipulator. Jaehwan lost interest, choosing instead to study how the kitchen lights reflected off the plastic screen, almost wider than Jaehwan was tall.

“Hungry?” Hongbin asked, sitting beside the hacker and startling him from his daydream. Jaehwan nodded, happily accepting the bowl his boyfriend passed him. Steaming rice and crispy beef. Fried veggies. Jaehwan nearly started to drool.

They ate, Jaehwan nestled against Hongbin’s chest, watching the tv heroine jump from time period to time period. The color had returned to the gamers handsome face, no doubt fortified by cuddles and calories. But... there was still a question.

“Who was that guy on the news?” the hacker asked, turning to watch his boyfriend, alert for any sign of recognition. Hongbin swallowed his mouthful, blinked twice, and then asked, “The mayor?”

He was pointedly avoiding Jaehwan’s gaze, which only served to peak the hacker’s curiosity further. “No, not the mayor. The tall one with black hair.” Hongbin cleared his throat before taking another bite. Jaehwan waited for him to finish chewing, watching him intently.

“He’s some young politician, you mom voted for him, I think.”

That rang true, sort of, and Jaehwan racked his brain to try and find the memory it was connected too, but there was nothing.

“I saw my imaginary friend just before you finished cooking,” Jaehwan said conversationally, all thoughts of the tall man wiped clean from his mind like Jaehwan had never noticed him at all. Hongbin had made the hacker promise to tell him every time the tattooed man appeared after Jaehwan mentioned him several weeks ago. He probably thought Jaehwan was losing his mind. Jaehwan could really argue that, what kind of grown man had imaginary friends?

“Did he say anything?” That was always the first question. “No. He never says anything; I just get feelings.”

“What was he doing?” The second question. “Nothing. He never does anything but smile at me, I’ve told you.”

“And what feeling did you get this time?”

Jaehwan was quiet for a moment, pondering. Each time his imaginary friend appeared, the feeling he got was similar. Always kindness and warmth, but with an undercurrent of something else. This time, it was a bit of… rejuvenation? That wasn’t the right word, Jaehwan thought.

“Healing, vigor, a sense of wellness,” the hacker mused, the side of his neck twinging painfully for some reason. Maybe he got a bug bite. He rubbed the spot with his palm, a flash of sharp metal glinting behind his unfocused eyes.

Hongbin was staring at him, concern and apprehension warring for dominance on his beautiful face. “I’m not crazy. I know you don’t believe me, but I’m not crazy,” Jaehwan murmured, forcibly pulling himself back to the present. Hongbin clicked his tongue, stroking Jaehwan’s scarred eyebrow. “I know you aren’t crazy, angel. I just wish you weren’t having visions of another man.”

It was a joke, Jaehwan knew it was a joke. He could see the smile playing across Hongbin’s lips. But he had been beating himself up over seeing imaginary men for so long now that he couldn’t find the humor in it.

The faceless man that came to him in dreams like a curl of smoke. Touching him in places that had him jolting awake, shaking and sweaty like he had just had a nightmare. Whispers of ‘sweetheart’ that rang in Jaehwan’s mind for hours afterward.

His friend with the ever-changing hair who brought the hacker an overwhelming sense of safety and peace. Tranquility. Eased his loneliness when Hongbin was gone. _‘Maybe I am crazy,’_ Jaehwan thought, losing focus again. _‘Maybe I’m seeing ghosts.’_

\---

Darling sat on Sanghyuk’s lap, purring up a storm as the criminal stared at the paperwork in front of him.

The cat had moved into the mansion the day after Wonshik was discharged from the hospital. Sanghyuk hadn’t been able to just call her Cat, so he named her Darling, after the nickname Jaehwan had used when addressing her personally. She seemed happy here, content to slink around the garden and sleep in the criminal’s bed, and she was something of a celebrity. All the men loved having her around. Sanghyuk liked having her around too.

After Jaehwan had forgotten him for the second time, Sanghyuk had thrown up. The minute Hongbin had come and taken him away, the criminal’s stomach had tied itself in knots and he barely made it to the bathroom in time. Wonshik had held his hair out of his eyes, looking like he was trying to stop himself from crying. The two of them had lied, telling the gamer that Jaehwan had simply woken up from his nap with no memory of who they were or where he was.

Neither of them had heard a word from either Hongbin or Jaehwan since that day. Sanghyuk honestly hadn’t been expecting too, but there was always hope. _Right?_ The criminal still knew a bit about what they were up too, of course. When he had asked, all Seokjin had told him was that Jaehwan was weird now, spacy and far away. Sanghyuk had men posted discretely around their building since Jung Hoseok’s threat had never gone away, so he was aware that Jaehwan never left his apartment. Ever. Not even to run to the convenience store or even simply go for a walk. Hongbin had really made good on his threat to lock the hacker up.

Sanghyuk never forgot to mention Jaehwan during public appearances, usually saying that he was unwell and that his recovery had taken a toll on his strength. I wasn’t a lie, just more half-truths. His recovery had indeed taken a toll, the toll being Jaehwan’s memories of the criminal and their torrid love affair. It was a heavy price to pay, but Sanghyuk was making do as best he could.

Giving the paperwork up as a bad job, Sanghyuk leaned back in his chair and lifted the cat up to his face. “Are you hungies Darling? Wanna go visit uncle Shikkie?” he asked, grinning at her permanent expression of indifference. “Such a grumpy baby,” he chuckled, tucking her under one arm and standing up. He wasn’t even grossed out by his own baby voice when he spoke to her anymore. How times had changed.

The criminal and the cat made their way down to the medical ward, stopping on the way so the men stationed along the hallways could give Darling a scratch here and there. Sanghyuk knocked on the door to the ward before pushing it open, finding his best friend looking into a microscope.

“I brought your niece,” the criminal said, setting Darling on the floor and watching as she scampered happily away to hide under the doctor’s desk. Wonshik had put the little pink cat bed under there, the one that used to be by the window in Jaehwan’s enormous living room, along with several fluffy toys that squeaked whenever she smacked them. 

Wonshik didn’t look up, so Sanghyuk took a seat on one of the cots, waiting for him to finish whatever he was working on. It didn’t take long.

“Jaehwan’s going to die,” he said, tone flat and businesslike as he sat up straight.

“We’re all going to die.”

“Yes, _but_ he is going to die soon. I’ve been analyzing and extracting the blood sample from his sweatshirt, when he got the nosebleed. Even from that little bit, corrupted as it is, it’s bad. If he doesn’t start getting his serum again, I give him six months tops.”

Sanghyuk sighed. “Have you tried talking to Hongbin?” he asked, already knowing the answer. “No, he told me not to call or text him under any circumstances.”

“What about Physicians Duty to Treat, or whatever it’s called?”

A pause.

“I haven’t thought of that, but I don’t think he would accept that as an excuse.”

“Couldn’t hurt to try, could it?” Sanghyuk asked, watching his best friend run his hands through his hair.

The night they got home from the hospital, Sanghyuk had climbed into the doctor’s bed at 2 in the morning. He had curled up next to his best friend like the child he was, unable to face the emptiness of his own room. Wonshik had hugged him, letting Sanghyuk cry himself out until his body was too drained _not_ to sleep. He hadn’t said a word about it when they woke up, no jokes or poking fun the way the criminal probably would have. He was so unbelievably kind.

Wonshik nodded slowly, reaching for his phone and dialing the gamer’s number, putting the call on speakerphone. It rang twice, and then…

_‘Hello?’_

That wasn’t Hongbin. It was Jaehwan’s sleepy voice, echoing around the medical ward like the word of a phantom.

It took Wonshik a second to recover from the surprise that was clear on his face, but he replied, _‘Hey, is Lee Hongbin there?’_

_‘Yeah, let me get him, one second.’_

A Pause.

_‘Who are you? Why do you want to talk to him so late?’_

Sanghyuk hadn’t even check the time before suggesting that they call. He quickly looked at his watch and realized that it was midnight.

_‘I’m his friend, just need to ask him one quick question.’_ Wonshik’s reply sounded automatic if not sincere.

There was a shuffling sound, then footsteps, and then… in the distance…

_‘What is it angel, did you have another nightmare?’_

_‘No, someone-‘_

_‘Wait, why do you have my phone?! I told you not to touch it!’_

_‘I’m sorry, someone called. It woke me up, here.’_

The words were faint, but Sanghyuk heard enough to get the gist. He heard the passivity in Jaehwan’s voice. Docile. Almost lifeless. And at the other end of the scale, Hongbin’s commanding tone. Firm. Dominant. It set the criminal on edge.

_‘Go back to bed angel,’_ the gamers voice said, followed by footsteps and the shutting of a door.

_‘What about ‘don’t call me under and circumstances’ did you not understand?’_

His voice was louder now, the phone pressed to his ear.

_‘Jaehwan needs treatment and he needs it badly,’_ Wonshik replied, getting straight to the point.

_‘Not happening. He’s taking his pills everyday like he should. He’s fine.’_

_‘He has six months at most, don’t kid yourself Hongbin.’_

_‘How would you know? You don’t know anything about him.’_

_‘I have a blood sample from when we were in the hospital. And I do know I can save his life!’_

_‘I don’t care. He’s not getting within fifty feet of you. Either of you.’_

Sanghyuk’s disbelief was mirrored on Wonshik’s face as he stared at the phone in his hand.

_‘You’re that stubborn? You’d prefer him dead than take the chance he might remember me?’_

_‘Yes, I would. And he does remember you; he just doesn’t know who you are. He calls you his imaginary friend,’_ Hongbin hissed. Sanghyuk could picture his handsome face contorted with anger.

_‘What?’_ Wonshik asked, glancing up and catching the criminal’s eye. They looked at each other with equal bewilderment.

_‘Yeah, he has like hallucinations of you smiling at him randomly, and whenever it happens, he just stares at nothing for a minute and then turns to me like, ‘my imaginary friend was here!’ It makes him feel safe apparently.’_

_‘Does he remember Sanghyuk?’_

Sanghyuk held his breath, not even daring to hope.

_‘He’s never told me, but he mumbles sweetheart in his sleep a lot. He doesn’t tell me everything. By the way, let the baby psychopath know that he needs to stop talking about Jae on tv. He accidentally caught the end of his stupid press conference earlier and I almost had a heart attack.’_

Wonshik blinked rapidly for a few seconds, looking like he had just been hit over the head. Sanghyuk waved at him, trying to urge him to keep talking.

_‘Well... well if he already remembers that much then what’s the harm in letting me treat him?’_

Hongbin sighed loudly on the other end of the line, and his voice turned sharp.

_‘You all have interfered in our lives enough, just leave Jae alone.’_

He hung up.

“I’m Jaehwan’s imaginary friend?” Wonshik asked after a moment, staring incredulously at the ceiling. “I, I- I don’t...” Sanghyuk said, trying to reply. Any words he might have spoken were completely stuck. He didn’t actually know what he wanted to say, it was all too weird and too much.

Darling zoomed out from under the desk, a toy mouse in her mouth, her little toenails clicking as she shimmied under the exam table. The sudden noise made Sanghyuk jump.

“He said we can’t see Jae, but what if we get Jae to come to us?” the doctor asked, a wicked grin crossing his face that the criminal had only seen a handful of times. It meant _trouble._

\---

“Angel, one of my Uni friends asked to get coffee, do you mind if I go?” Hongbin called, just loud enough for Jaehwan to hear through the open door of the game room.

The hacker huffed, stomping his socked feet down the hall and stopping on the threshold. “Is it the same friend that called you in the middle of the night?” he asked, folding his arms across his chest and glaring suspiciously at the back of his boyfriend’s head.

“I told you, that was my American gaming buddy, he sucks at time change.”

“Yeah, your American gaming buddy that speaks Korean better than I do,” Jaehwan snapped.

Hongbin’s chair spun around, revealing the gamers beautiful eyes creased in annoyance. “Yes. He is Korean but lives in America, why is that so hard for you to understand?”

“It’s not hard for me to understand, I just don’t believe you!”

“Why?” The gamers tone was that nasty one he usually reserved for people he thought were stupid. Jaehwan bristled, speaking without even thinking the words through.

“Because it wouldn’t be the first time you cheated on me!”

The hacker snapped his mouth shut. He didn’t know why he said that, Hongbin hadn’t cheated on him? He didn’t think so?

“What did you say?” Hongbin asked, voice flat. All the blood had drained from his perfect face, eyes going wide.

Jaehwan shook his head so fast he got dizzy. “I don’t know, I didn’t mean it. I know you haven’t done... that.”

He hadn’t. Had he? No. No, he wouldn’t have, not when he knew how Seokjin treated Jaehwan, the serial cheating. He wouldn’t have. Hongbin wouldn’t. Not his wonderful Hongbin. _No._

“Angel, how could you think I would do that to you?” Hongbin asked, quiet.

Jaehwan felt on the verge of tears all of a sudden. He didn’t even know why, Hongbin hadn’t done anything!

“No, of course you wouldn’t, I know that. You would never hurt me like that. Go to your coffee, I don’t mind. I trust you.”

Something in Hongbin’s expression shifted for the briefest second, there and then gone so fast that Jaehwan thought he imagined it. _Guilt._ The hackers head hurt, he needed to sleep, lie down. Maybe sleep would stop his imagination from playing tricks on him. But there was no safety in sleep. The dark man would come to him, all sharp angles and probing fingers. If anyone was guilty, it was Jaehwan.

“Seriously, go. I’m fine, I’m just going to take a nap. I’m sorry.”

Jaehwan spun away and hurried into their bedroom, crossing to the bathroom and splashing ice cold water on his face. He really _was_ losing his mind.

“Angel?”

“Binnie-ah I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me!”

Hongbin’s arms wrapped tightly around the hacker’s narrow waist. “Nothing is wrong with you, Jae. You’re fine, I promise.”

“I’m going crazy.” The words were a whisper, Jaehwan staring unseeingly at his own hands braced on the marble countertop.

“You aren’t going crazy, okay? People speak without thinking all the time. You just need to…”

Hongbin’s words faded into the background, replaced by another, deeper voice.

_‘Take a deep breath in… hold it… three, two, one… let it out.’_

An immediate sense of calm unfurled over Jaehwan like a blanket. He looked up at the mirror, and there he was. His imaginary friend, a little transparent and standing right next to him. His hair was silver this time, and he ran one of his tan hands through it, smiling kindly at the hacker like he was trying to comfort him.

“You talk?” Jaehwan murmured, feeling his legs go a bit wobbly. The imaginary boy didn’t answer the question, only the word _‘cute’_ echoing in Jaehwan’s ear.

That deep baritone was familiar, _so_ familiar. But the hacker couldn’t put a finger on where he heard it before! His head was hurting even more, but he didn’t feel so freaked out now, watching his friend smile at their reflections.

“Jae, who are you talking too?”

Reality snapped back into place like the release of a bow string. Hongbin was holding him very tightly, staring at him with a mixture of worry and confusion. Jaehwan’s imaginary friend had vanished into thin air, like he had never been there at all.

“My... my imaginary friend... he _talked.”_

His heartbeat slowed to utter placidity, eyes coming back into focus. “I’m fine, everything’s fine,” Jaehwan continued, still filled with the overwhelming sense of rightness that his friend always brought. He grinned at his boyfriend, dropping his head back to plant a kiss on his cheek.

“Go have coffee with your Uni friend, baby, I’m going to take a nap.”

Hongbin looked conflicted, _very_ conflicted, but Jaehwan turned in his arms and smoothed his hair back. “I’m sorry for saying that earlier, I didn’t mean it. I know you wouldn’t... you know. Go have fun,” he murmured, nudging his boyfriends’ nose with his own.

The gamer closed the inch of distance left between them, kissing Jaehwan so softly and sweetly that he nearly melted. There was nothing better than Hongbin’s kisses. Absolutely nothing. Jaehwan hummed contentedly, sliding his hands up his boyfriend’s chest.

“I love you angel, you can’t even begin to comprehend how much,” Hongbin said quietly, leaning the hacker back against the counter. “I... love... you... too,” Jaehwan replied, the words broken up by kisses. Hongbin made him so happy. _Always._ The day Hongbin asked him out over three years ago had been the happiest of his entire life, how had he possible gotten this lucky?

Hongbin was gone 20 minutes later, off to have coffee with his friend, and Jaehwan was snuggled under the covers in their bed, already halfway to sleep.

He had turned on an audiobook and was enjoying the sound of the narrator’s pleasant voice, when he heard a knocking somewhere in the distance. Maybe Hongbin had forgotten his keys.

Groggily, Jaehwan got up, dragging his feet as he walked down the hall to the front door. He was about to open it when he heard a crinkle under his foot. Looking down, he realized he had stepped on an envelope.

He bent to retrieve it, staring at the name printed on the front in a loopy scrawl _. ‘To: Ken’_

That was the code name he used for jobs. Most people didn’t know it, let alone someone who would want to talk to him outside of a computer. The envelope must have been slipped under his door.

Jaehwan unlocked the front door and peered out into the hallway, but nobody was there. The lit numbers above the elevator said it was on the 8th floor. _Weird._

He shut the door and leaned against it, tearing the side of the mysterious envelope open. There was a single sheet of paper inside with what looked like coordinates and one line of text.

_‘Curious? - Your Imaginary Friend’_

**Chapter 38: The Ghosts**   
**Summary:**

**'I don’t want to go to your frat house in the spirit realm!'**

  
**Notes:**

**I needed a break from writing angst lol**

_ The Ghosts: _

This was either a dream or a very elaborate hallucination, Jaehwan wasn’t sure which. But whatever it was, it had sparked the hackers unending curiosity, his drowsiness vanishing as soon as he read the words on that paper.

Jaehwan was in his walk-in closet, pulling on jeans and a black cashmere sweater his boyfriend bought him last week. His clothing options were limited, since most of his stuff was at the mysterious second apartment that he couldn’t remember renting and had never seen, but he made do.

It was winter, he needed a coat. It was very easy to forget what season it was when you never leave the confines of a perpetually warm home, Jaehwan thought, taking Hongbin’s sapphire blue wool coat off its hanger and slipping it on.

He stepped into a pair of shiny black oxfords before hurrying into the bathroom to comb his hair. The hacker hadn’t actually gotten dressed in several weeks, usually staying in pajamas or sweats all day, but now he remembered with blinding clarity how much he liked to dress up. Jaehwan smudged a bit of liner on the corners of his lids, ran a mascara wand through his lashes, and brushed his hair up into a comma style. He put on a pair of diamond earrings and then examined himself in the mirror.

Jaehwan looked good, he decided. Not great, but good enough. His clothes hung off his thin frame, and his face was still pale, dark shadows staining the skin under his eyes. The majority of the scars from the crash had faded, all except the X through his eyebrow, but there wasn’t much he could do about that. Not great, but better than the zombie toddler her had gotten accustomed to seeing every time he looked in a mirror.

“You look fine, you’re not trying to impress anyone,” he said to his own reflection, spraying a bit of cologne on his wrists.

Hongbin was going to absolutely lose his shit if he realized the hacker had gone out, alone no less, but Jaehwan was too curious to dwell on that fact much. He had turned on his computer for the first time in 6 weeks, quickly searching the coordinates from the note and then clearing his history before shutting it off again.

The location turned out to be a park, near the apartment building but too far to walk in this frigid weather. Jaehwan put on a large pair of Dior sunglasses, retrieved his car keys from the spot where he knew Hongbin had hidden them, and hurried out to the elevator.

Driving. _God_ , how Jaehwan had missed driving! Bae purred like a kitten, responding to each flick of his wrist and tap on the gas pedal with easy precision.

He took the long way to the park, savoring the feeling of being in control of a car again before reluctantly stopping next to the curb. The park was situated on the river bank, and Jaehwan could see skate ramps at one end, as well as a convince store across from it. The place was relatively empty, only a few kids running around in padded coats throwing snowballs at each other.

_‘Where are their parents? The poor things are going to catch colds,’_ Jaehwan thought to himself, locking the car and making his was across the wide lawn. The blades of grass were white with frost, crunching under the hacker’s shoes. It really was absolutely freezing out. _‘Now, where’s my imaginary friend?’_ he thought, knowing how absolutely insane that question was.

He stopped under a tree, it’s branches bare and crème colored bark gleaming under the winter sun. _‘There’s only the kids... that elderly couple holding hands... and..._ ’

There was a man. Standing by the railing next to the river. Tall, long legs, a bottle green jacket. Purple black hair. _‘It can’t be! No way!’_

As if he had heard Jaehwan’s thoughts, the man turned in his direction. Pearly white smile. Kind eyes. Golden skin.

Jaehwan left the safety of his tree without any conscious decision to do so, walking the thirty feet to the railing as if in a daze. His head was starting to hurt again.

“You’re... you are my imaginary friend?”

\---

Jaehwan set his gaudy sunglasses on top of his head and stared at him so hard that Wonshik almost started to fidget.

“I guess I am,” he replied, unintentionally making the hacker jump in surprise.

“But- but you have _legs!_ And you aren’t see-through!” Jaehwan exclaimed, reaching out a long-fingered hand and nearly poking Wonshik in the eye.

“I _am_ corporeal, last time I checked, so why would I be see-through?” the doctor asked, grinning at the look of absolute bewilderment on the hacker’s face. “These hallucinations are seriously getting out of hand. Maybe I need to go see a therapist,” Jaehwan muttered, apparently talking to himself and tapping the doctors shin with the toe of his shoe.

Jaehwan didn’t look well. Wonshik took in his gaunt features and sallow skin, the boniness of his hands, dullness of his usually shiny hair. His fingernails were tinted yellow, the rims of his eyes red under a bit of makeup he had on. This was a person in desperate need of medical attention, but Wonshik kept the pleasant smile on his face for Jaehwan’s benefit.

“Maybe when I hit my head, I gained the ability to see ghosts,” the hacker was murmuring, still talking to himself. And then, louder, “Okay ghost boy, tell me, are you friends with the man made of smoke?”

Wonshik had absolutely no clue what to make of that question. “I’m _not_ a ghost, Jae, we’re friends. Do you remember me? I’m your doctor, I was in the hospital when you woke up,” he replied, but Jaehwan didn’t look the least bit convinced. He began poking Wonshik in various places, first his stomach, then his arm, his cheek, his neck.

“Nobody was at the hospital when I woke up, not even my boyfriend.” That was a bit of a surprise, but only a bit. If Jaehwan’s mind had really rejected Wonshik and Sanghyuk, then it would only make sense that he also didn’t remember meeting them when he woke for the second time. Trauma does very weird things to the brain.

“If Hongbin finds me in a park getting frostbite and talking to ghosts, he’s going to have me fucking committed,” the hacker muttered again, ignoring the doctor’s question. “Jaehwan, I’m not a ghost, I’m a living human being.”

“So, ghost boy, how did you get from my apartment to the middle of a park so quickly? Did you fly? Or teleport?”

“I drove.”

“Ghosts can drive,” Jaehwan whispered to himself. And then, louder,

“What kind of car?”

“Range Rover sport, five-liter v8, supercharged.”

“Ghosts have good taste in cars,” Another whisper. Wonshik would be more concerned if this wasn’t so strangely funny.

“How did you give me that note?”

“I slipped it under your door and hid in the stairwell.”

“How did you write it?”

“With my hand… and a pen.”

Jaehwan was squinting at him, probably trying to find a flaw in the mirage he clearly believed Wonshik to be. “Okay ghost boy. Since I’ve obviously gone insane, you might as well answer some questions for me.”

Wonshik nodded, allowing the hacker to keep poking him absently. It was starting to tickle, but he tried his best not to pull away.

“Why did you tell me to come out here? Do you want me to freeze to death so we could hang out in the spirit realm or where ever it is that you live?”

The doctor did laugh this time. “I don’t live in the _spirit realm_ , I live in a big mansion with my best friends,” he replied, watching Jaehwan blink owlishly at him. “Well, that’s fucking _weird._ Do you mean like… a frat house? Did you die when you were at Uni?”

“I’m not dead, you can touch me. I’m breathing and warm and alive.”

“Say the word breathe one more time, if you don’t mind,” Jaehwan replied, and Wonshik did. “Well that _is_ your voice, you sound exactly like you did in my bathroom.”

“Ok, Jae, listen to me. I’m your doctor. I need to take you home and give you a shot. You’re super sick and I want to help you.” He realized how insanely creepy that sounded, but there really wasn’t a better way to phrase it.

Before the hacker had a chance to answer, Wonshik’s phone rang. He sighed, pulling it out of his pocket and putting it to his ear.

_‘Is he there?’_ Sanghyuk’s voice.

“Ghosts have cellphones...” a whisper from next to him.

_‘Yes, but he is convinced I’m a ghost, it’s not going well.’_

_‘Did he agree to come to the compound?’_

_‘No, not yet.’_

_‘Let me talk to him.’_

_‘Sanghyuk, I don’t think that’s a good idea.’_

“Is that one of your ghost friends? Wait, am I dead too? Is that why I can see you?” Jaehwan asked, prodding the doctor’s nose. Wonshik caught his hand and held it at his side in an attempt to stop the poking.

_‘He sounds like a proper lunatic,’_ Sanghyuk’s voice.

_‘He would agree with you. Where are you anyway?’_

_‘I’m on the next block, I’m walking over.’_

_‘I don’t know if you should come.’_

_‘Shik, I need to see him, you know I do.’_

Wonshik looked at the sky, searching for inner strength and trying to keep a hold on the sick hacker currently wiggling next to him.

_‘Fine. He’ll probably just think you’re a ghost too, but please don’t do anything stupid.’_

Sanghyuk hung up, and the doctor turned to Jaehwan. “Our friend is on his way, you know him too,” he said, speaking low and soft as to not scare the hacker.

“I don’t have friends other than you, Binnie, and Seokjinie. And you aren’t real, so actually it’s just Binnie and Seokjinie.”

“Yes, you do, your hacker buddies. The tall one and the short pretty one,” Wonshik replied, unable to remember the names of the two boys that helped install Jaehwan’s security system. “They’re more like business partners. And how do you know about them? Do you turn invisible so you can spy on me? Have you seen me naked?!” was the nonsensical reply. The answer to that last question was yes, _obviously,_ but Wonshik didn’t think saying so would go over too well.

After several more minutes of back and forth, the doctor spotted his best friend at the edge of the lawn. Jaehwan hadn’t noticed, currently too busy trying to tangle Wonshik’s fingers up in a knot. “Okay, he’s here. Don’t freak out.”

“Kind of late for that, but thanks for the heads up.”

Sanghyuk was dressed purposefully casually, all black and dark denim, a half face mask and a beanie hiding the majority of his features so he wouldn’t be recognized.

“Hey,” he said, walking quickly up to them, his eyes crinkling is what was obviously a smile.

Jaehwan jumped about a mile in the air, whirling around to stare at Sanghyuk before ducking behind Wonshik like the doctor was a human shield.

“You _are_ friends with the man made of smoke, I fucking _knew_ it!” A muttered curse from somewhere adjacent to the doctor’s ear. “The _who?”_ Sanghyuk asked, perplexed, but Jaehwan was murmuring to himself again. “Maybe I should have myself committed before Hongbin has to do it. I’m clearly unstable, what if I accidentally hurt someone?”

“Seriously, is he alright?” the criminal asked, taking a careful step in their direction, prompting the hacker to duck down and press himself against the doctors back. “No, obviously he is _not_ alright.”

“No shit, I’m not,” Jaehwan whispered. The criminal pulled his mask down, seeming like he was trying very hard not to laugh.

Jaehwan must have been feeling a little braver, dropping his chin on Wonshik’s shoulder so he could get a better look at Sanghyuk. “Why are you friends with him? He’s not a friendly ghost like you.”

“What do you mean?” Wonshik asked. He was trying his best to make sense of this whole thing and failing miserably. “You... you make me feel safe when you show up. No clue why. But he... he _touches_ me. And I only see him when I’m asleep. He makes me feel... weak.”

Sanghyuk’s brow creased in confusion. “What do you mean, I touch you?”

“You _touch_ me! With your giant fucking hands, shadow man! Get it?”

A slow smile spread across the criminal’s face, and Wonshik realized what was going to happen but was too slow to stop it.

“Like this?” the criminal asked, darting around the doctor faster than should be technically possible and trying to pick the hacker up. Jaehwan shrieked and took off, sprinting away down the riverside path. Sanghyuk took off after him, and after a loud curse, Wonshik followed suit. He was going to have _words_ with the criminal later for scaring a sick person, the stupid idiot.

“Jaehwan! Stop running! He won’t hurt you; I promise!” Wonshik shouted as he ran. The hacker may be sick, but he was really fucking quick. Even Sanghyuk, with his insanely long legs, was having trouble keeping up. “It’s not getting _hurt_ that I’m worried about! Save me, ghost boy!”

The words were screamed over the hacker’s shoulder in that same shrill tone, but Jaehwan didn’t slow down. “Sanghyuk, cut it out, you’re going to give him a heart attack!” Wonshik called, and mercifully, the criminal listened.

“You are genuinely the _worst,”_ Wonshik snapped, jogging past a grinning Sanghyuk and shooting him a glare. Jaehwan wasn’t running anymore, but he was walking backwards as the doctor approached. “Don’t let him touch me, please don’t,” he was whispering, staring blankly over Wonshik’s shoulder.

“I won’t, he won’t touch you. You’re okay. You’re safe.”

They both stopped.

“Come here, we just want to talk to you,” the doctor continued, holding out his hand and trying to sound reassuring. Jaehwan latched onto him like a child as they slowly made their way back down the path to where Sanghyuk was waiting. He had taken off his beanie and put his face mask in his pocket, smiling happily and running his fingers through his dark hair.

“You’re shorter than I thought you would be.”

The criminal’s mouth dropped open. Wonshik was fairly positive he had never, _ever,_ heard anyone call Sanghyuk short before. “You’re skinnier than I thought you’d be, and faster than I remember,” the criminal shot back. “Yeah, I bet it’s easier to catch me when I’m sleeping, you demon!”

“Why do you have a problem with me and not him,” Sanghyuk asked, sounding genuinely curious and pointing at Wonshik. Jaehwan flinched, nearly dislocating the doctor’s arm as he tried to hide behind him again. “Because! He’s basically a hot version of Casper! You, you’re like some fucking incubus or something!”

“Hot Casper?” Wonshik asked, just as the criminal replied, “You think I’m a sex demon?!”

Jaehwan was nodding emphatically as Sanghyuk started to laugh. “Why else would you touch me like that and only show up when I’m dreaming?!”

Sanghyuk’s smile grew wider as his laughter stopped. “You have sexy dreams about me, huh? What do I do in these dreams?” A slow step closer.

“Cut it out,” Wonshik hissed again, but the criminal ignored him.

“Where exactly is it that I _touch_ you?” Another step. The doctor felt Jaehwan start to tremble, but he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from fear. “Sanghyuk, stop. You remember what happened last time.”

“That was different, he thinks I’m a demon now so I might as well act the part,” the criminal replied, his eyes fixed on a point over Wonshik’s shoulder. He was very close now.

The rings Jaehwan was wearing would probably leave bruises on Wonshik’s palm, the hacker was squeezing his hand so hard. “Come on sweetheart, tell me.” Jaehwan squeaked. That was really the only word for it. He sounded like Darling’s toy mice when the little cat pounced on them.

“I should have never left the apartment, I should have listened to Binnie,” the hacker muttered to himself, letting the doctor go and slowly inching backwards. “You should have listened to your ridiculously controlling boyfriend?” Sanghyuk asked, stepping around a dumbfounded Wonshik before continuing, “I don’t think so. Isn’t it much more fun out here with us? Don’t you feel _alive?”_

Why Sanghyuk ever did _anything_ he did was a mystery to Wonshik. His best friend normally had a plan, but he almost never revealed it to the doctor in advance, something that frustrated Wonshik to no end. He must have a plan now, what with this dead-on impression of a creepy demon he was doing. He _must._

“Hiding in the dark when you could be out in the world, it’s such a waste. You’re too smart for that, aren’t you sweetheart?”

The words had a practiced ring to them, and the doctor wondered if Sanghyuk had told Jaehwan that before. The hacker seemed to have frozen solid, looking up at the criminal with very wide eyes. “We want to help you, sweetheart. Make you healthy again. Free you from that prison of lies you’re trapped in. We want to help you feel alive.”

“You’re the one that’s lying!” Jaehwan exclaimed, yanking his hand away when Sanghyuk tried to hold it and taking off again. _‘I should have worn running shoes,’_ Wonshik thought, already able to feel blisters forming on his heels beneath the leather of his new boots. His efforts turned out to be unnecessary, however, because Sanghyuk had been ready for it this time and caught the hacker before he made it ten yards.

“Put me down, demon! Leave me alone!”

Sanghyuk had scooped Jaehwan up, grinning at the doctor as he carried the flailing hacker back down the path. “The hideout?” the criminal asked, waiting for Wonshik’s reluctant nod before he began to cross the lawn.

“What hideout?! I don’t want to go to your frat house in the spirit realm!”

“Sweetheart, please lower your voice. You’re yelling in my ear and scaring those kids.”

“Frat house in the spirit realm… _Jesus,”_ Wonshik muttered under his breath as he followed after them. “The hideout is very much in this dimension, Jae, you should know that. You pay rent for it.”

That seemed to get Jaehwan’s attention. He stopped shouting, stopped trying to bite Sanghyuk’s ear off, and turned to look over Sanghyuk’s shoulder, and expression of complete puzzlement on his elfin face. “My apartment?” he asked, wrapping his arms obediently around the criminal’s neck as they walked instead of attempting to beat Sanghyuk to death.

“Very much _your_ apartment. Yours and no one else’s,” the doctor replied, forcing the easy smile that seemed to calm the hacker down back onto his face.

**Chapter 39: The Deja Vu**   
**Summary:**

**“So, demon, since you made the choice to actively ruin my life, again, what do you plan to do now?”**

**Notes:**

***The Deja Vu (or, the chapter where Hongbin's character stopped pissing me off)***

**Also, I was going to kill several characters this chapter, but I did a rewrite, your welcome lol**

_The Deja Vu:_

This was going better than Sanghyuk anticipated. Weirder, _definitely_ weirder, but still better.

The three boys had abandoned Jaehwan’s blue car (Sanghyuk depositing the hacker on the back seat of his Range Rover before sliding in himself, letting Wonshik drive) and were now heading in the direction of Jaehwan’s apartment. His real apartment, not that jail of a penthouse Hongbin was keeping him in.

“How can a ghost be driving? How are you even able to touch the steering wheel?” the hacker asked, legs tucked up under himself and seatbelt securely fastened. Sanghyuk always made sure people wore their seatbelts after the crash, not wanting what happened to Jaehwan to happen to anyone else. Better late than never.

“You probably aren’t driving. I bet I’m still at the park, running around and making car sound effects,” Jaehwan continued, quieter, talking to himself again. “He is driving with his hands and feet because he’s a living person, sweetheart,” the criminal replied, his upper body turned to the hacker, drinking in the view he had missed so incredibly much.

Jaehwan shot him an adorable glare. “Shut it, demon,” he snapped, resting his head against the window pane as the car reached a stop light. “You know, I’m not even offended that you keep calling me a demon. You’ve called me so much worse.”

“What else have I called you?” the hacker asked, trying to disguise his curiosity and not doing a very good job of it.

“Well, jackass and murderer for a start,” the criminal replied, adding as an afterthought, “But you also call me both baby _and_ daddy, which can get a bit confusing at times.”

“Did _not_ ,” Jaehwan muttered, giving Sanghyuk a neck slice. “Did _too!”_ Sanghyuk chorused, snagging the hackers wrist and loosely holding it against the middle seat.

The rest of the drive was quiet, mostly just Jaehwan mumbling to himself about how stupid demons are. They took the back way up to the hideout, otherwise known as Jaehwan’s penthouse, Sanghyuk letting them in with a key he borrowed from Hakyeon. The criminal still didn’t have his own key.

“Does this look familiar at all?” Wonshik asked, leading the way inside.

The penthouse hadn’t been touched since the night of the accident. It was still a mess, the mattress on the floor in the living room, piercing gun in the kitchen, sofa covered in clothes. The only things missing were Darling and some of her cat toys.

Jaehwan was looking around the living room with narrowed eyes, like he didn’t quite believe what he was seeing. He took a few hesitant steps one direction and then abruptly switched, ending up in front of his desk.

“That’s mine. I built that,” he murmured, crouching to inspect one of his computers. He poked it, like he thought his hand would go right through its hard-plastic shell. “And that. I remember ordering that… I think.”

The hacker picked up a digital picture frame that Sanghyuk had never actually noticed before. It was cycling through what looked like vacation photos of Jaehwan and Hongbin, first by Tokyo tower, then in front of the Louvre pyramid, then on a sunny beach Sanghyuk couldn’t identify. The next photo surprised them both.

It was of Sanghyuk, shirtsleeves rolled up, necktie loose, with his feet crossed on his desk at the compound. The criminal was reading what appeared to be paperwork of some kind, unaware of the camera.

“I- I remember… you looked so handsome… I had to take a picture,” Jaehwan said quietly, staring at the frame in his hand like he was trying to scry in it.

The picture changed again, this time to a mirror selfie Jaehwan had taken before one of their dates. Both were in all black, the hacker leaning against Sanghyuk’s chest, one of the criminal’s hands flat on Jaehwan’s hip. Jaehwan’s gift watch was on his wrist, glinting gold in the light from the fireplace in Sanghyuk’s bedroom.

Jaehwan unceremoniously dropped the frame back on his desk, whirling to grab Sanghyuk’s arm. The criminal let him do it, watching with bated breath as the hacker’s fingers brushed the face of his watch.

“This… this is _mine_ ,” he muttered, and Sanghyuk didn’t stop him when he undid the clasp and cupped the watch in his hands like a baby bird. “You gave this to me. You gave it to me for no reason, just because you thought it would look nice on me.”

Sanghyuk exchanged looks with Wonshik before refocusing on Jaehwan’s face. “Yes, I did give it to you. You’re right.”

The criminal had _more_ than learned his lesson last time Jaehwan started to remember. He wouldn’t deny anything now, or probably ever again. He never wanted to hear the word ‘liar’ cross Jaehwan’s lips for as long as he lived.

“You gave this to me for no reason, and we were smoking in your office, and then we…”

“Yes, yes to all of what your remembering.”

“We- your secretary? Or second? He has my Rolex. Hongbin told me it broke when we got in that accident, but it didn’t, did it? You- your person has it. The dancer.”

Jaehwan slipped his watch onto his wrist, closing the clasp and shaking it a little like he was trying to remember how it felt against his skin. Sanghyuk and Wonshik glanced at each other again. “Hakyeon?” the doctor asked, and Jaehwan nodded.

“How would Hakyeon have gotten your Rolex, sweetheart?”

The hacker stared at his watch a moment longer before he looked up. His eyes were clear, none of the glazing they occasionally got in the hospital.

“He told me he had it. You two were arguing, I can’t remember why,” Jaehwan replied, waving from Wonshik to Sanghyuk and back again. “I went to breakfast, and he was there, and he told me that life doesn’t always turn out the way one expects, and I might want it back. And you…” pointing at the doctor, “That was right after you called me a drama queen, but I can’t remember what I was being dramatic about.”

This was all news to Sanghyuk! Why would Hakyeon have kept Hongbin’s Rolex? Where had he even gotten it in the first place?!

“Sorry about that,” Wonshik said, but Jaehwan shook his head.

“You and I…” the hacker continued, turning his attention back on Sanghyuk with an expression somewhere between fascination and wonder. “You and I were together… but we weren’t, were we?”

That was a rather difficult question to answer. “Our relationship is hard to define,” the criminal replied. It was the best he could think of.

“You _aren’t_ a demon…”

“No, I’m _not_ a demon. And Wonshik isn’t a ghost.”

“You wanted to be together… and I said no. But then, I did want you… I wanted you _so_ badly… but _you_ said no.”

Wonshik’s phone rang, making Sanghyuk jump about a mile in the air. Jaehwan didn’t even blink. His eyes were glued on the criminal’s, mesmerized.

“Why did you say no?” the hacker asked, just as Wonshik said, “It’s Hongbin and he wants to talk to you.”

Sanghyuk hissed out a breath, holding Jaehwan’s gaze as he put the phone to his ear.

“Hongbin, what do you want?”

_‘Why the hell are photos of you carrying Jaehwan around a park all over the tabloids?! Why isn’t he at home?! Why is he wearing my jacket?!’_

“I’ll answer those in order. I _was_ carrying him around a park, because he’s at _his_ apartment with Wonshik and I, and probably because all of his clothes are here, so he had to borrow yours.”

_‘You colossal asshole! Why would you bring him there?!’_

“Because he needs to remember. If he wants to stay with you and keep living with you, that’s fine. But he _needs_ to know the whole story and he needs to let Wonshik keep treating him, otherwise he’s going to die, and we’ll all lose. Including him.’

_‘I’m on my way, and you had better fucking be there when I get there!’_

“That’s probably a good idea.”

Sanghyuk hung up the doctor’s phone and handed it back. “Would you mind checking the internet?” he asked, his eyes still fixed on Jaehwan, but he saw Wonshik nod in his peripheral vision.

“I said no because I thought you were lying to me,” the criminal continued, picking up the conversation they were having before they were so rudely interrupted.

The hacker’s head tilted to the side, his eyes drifting to Wonshik. “But… he an I. I love him too.”

“I know.”

“Differently. I love him, but _differently_.”

“I know that too.”

Wonshik either hadn’t heard or was stopping himself from reacting. “There’s articles. Pictures as well,” he said, holding his phone out for the hacker and the criminal to see.

On the screen was a candid photo, Jaehwan’s arms around Sanghyuk’s neck as he talked to Wonshik over Sanghyuk’s shoulder. A huge smile was plastered on the criminal’s face, his arms wrapped tight around Jaehwan’s middle, his hair in the midst of being tousled by the wind. The caption under the photo read: _‘Politician Han Sanghyuk and Boyfriend, Lee Jaehwan, Make a Public Appearance for the First Time in Several Months’._

“When did we make public appearances before? I know we did, but I can’t remember when,” Jaehwan asked, looking from Sanghyuk to the phone. “We’ve made a few. Mostly dates, and we also made a statement about our relationship.”

Jaehwan nodded distantly. “Did you know? About he and I? I can’t remember if you did,” the hacker murmured, gaze resting on Wonshik. “Did I know which part?”

Wonshik glanced up, suddenly looking a bit shifty. “I don’t know, I can’t exactly remember. We were in a doctor’s office, lots of kisses…” the hacker replied, like he was thinking very hard.

The criminal turned his eyes on his friend, feeling himself glare before he could stop. Wonshik flinched. “We hooked up a bit before he moved out of the compound, sorry,” he hastened to explain, pointedly looking the other way. Sanghyuk didn’t let himself get any angrier, he had guessed it was happening, and there was no reason to be jealous at this point.

“I really wanted to have a threesome with both of you… like _really_ badly,” Jaehwan continued, leaning against Sanghyuk a bit as he stared at the doctor. Before the criminal could formulate a response that _wasn’t_ suggestive, the hacker asked, “But, where was Binnie? I don’t remember what happened, he was there and then he was just… gone.”

“It’s probably best if he explains that,” Sanghyuk said, sliding an arm around Jaehwan’s waist. The hacker looked dizzy, like he was about to just keel over under the weight of his rapidly resurfacing memories. “Okay… this is very weird. A demon and a ghost aren’t demons and ghosts…”

Sanghyuk had to force himself not to laugh, not out of humor but out of sheer incredulity. This was _very_ weird. It had been weeks. Weeks! _Weeks_ , since he had felt the warmth of this boy against him. Sanghyuk had never thought he would see Jaehwan face to face ever again, never thought he would hear his sweet high voice, smell his sandalwood cologne. The criminal was so overwhelmed with emotions so suddenly, that it seemed like he had been running on empty for the past two months.

“You should sit down, sweetheart,” Sanghyuk said softly, lowering the hacker onto his desk chair. He knelt in front of Jaehwan and took his hands, watching Jaehwan bite his lip. “I’ll get you some water,” Wonshik added, hurrying off to the kitchen.

Suddenly, Jaehwan looked all around the living room. “Where’s my daughter? I have a daughter?” he asked, attention snapping back to Sanghyuk with an alarmed expression on his face. “Did I get someone pregnant?!”

“No, sweetheart! I got you a cat when you moved in here, and you called her your daughter! You didn’t get anyone pregnant!” Sanghyuk replied, a slightly hysterical giggle escaping his throat. Jaehwan visibly relaxed, slumping back in his chair and shutting his eyes. “Thank Christ. I’m _not_ qualified to be a father.”

“She’s living at my compound now; we named her Darling. Do you remember my compound?”

Jaehwan reopened his eyes, looking up at the stupidly high ceiling. “Uhh… a bit? I remember a big bed, and a rose garden, and an office rug that I’m fairly sure had blood on it at some point, but I don’t how if that’s your compound or the frat house in the spirit realm from my imagination,” he said.

Wonshik appeared at Sanghyuk’s side, holding out a full glass of water. The hacker took it gratefully, releasing one of the criminal’s hands and finishing half of it in one go. “My head hurts again, and this is the longest I’ve gone without a nap in weeks,” Jaehwan muttered, setting the glass on his desk and rubbing his eyes.

“Don’t push yourself to remember anything, the memories will come back at their own pace,” Wonshik replied, putting on his best doctor voice. Jaehwan nodded, picking up his picture frame again and watching it cycle through photos.

Sanghyuk watched Jaehwan watch a slideshow of his favorite pictures, at a complete loss for anything to say. He was _happy_ , plain and simple.

“Why would I put _this_ on here?” the hacker murmured, flipping the frame around to show the criminal an image of what Sanghyuk recognized as his own abs. “Probably because I’m so hot. That deserves its own frame, honestly.”

“That’s you?”

Sanghyuk grinned, standing and keeping a firm grip on Jaehwan’s hand while he lifted his shirt. Jaehwan blinked several times.

“Nice.”

“I know.”

The hacker turned to Wonshik. “Do you really have tattoos? You did when you were a ghost.”

Wonshik chuckled, nodding and rolling up his sleeve so the hacker could see his sigil tattoo. “Nice.”

The three talked about nothing substantial for the next ten minutes, trying to keep Jaehwan awake until Hongbin got there. Sanghyuk wasn’t looking forward to being in the gamer’s _sunny_ presence again, but it seemed unavoidable. If anything substantial was going to get done, they needed Hongbin.

He arrived, a whirl of anxiety and visceral frustration.

“Angel! You scared the _fuck_ out of me!” the gamer basically shouted, stomping over and nudging Sanghyuk out of the way as soon as Wonshik buzzed him in.

“Sorry, my imaginary friend told me he was at a park, and it ended up being these two who I’m still half sure are a ghost and a demon.”

Hongbin’s mouth dropped open. He shook his head back and forth like a dog that had water in its ear, blinking incredibly fast.

“What?!”

“I’ve had a confusing afternoon.”

Hongbin turned to glare at Sanghyuk, who was still at almost as much of a loss.

“He thought that I was an incubus and Wonshik was the hot version of Casper.”

“What?!”

“I know, I don’t get it either.”

“Wait,” Jaehwan exclaimed, sitting up straight. “You can see them, right? You’ve never been able to see them before.”

“Of course, I can see them! I couldn’t see them before because you were hallucinating!” Hongbin replied, apparently about two seconds away from ripping out chunks of his own hair.

“Where did you go when I was with them, I can’t remember,” Jaehwan asked, the genuine tone of his voice making Sanghyuk wince.

“We’ll give you two a moment,” the criminal said, as he stood and pulled Wonshik into the kitchen.

The exchange that followed was one of the most legendary fights Sanghyuk ever had the pleasure of eavesdropping on. To his credit, Hongbin confessed again and explained his colossal fuck-up without crying like he did the first time. But just like the first time, Jaehwan’s shouting was a joy to listen too. Angry Jaehwan was, quite possible, Sanghyuk’s favorite version of the hacker. He was a force to be reckoned with.

Once the yelling and swearing and stomping had died down, the criminal and doctor hesitantly returned to the living room. Jaehwan was no longer in his desk chair, now face down on his mattress sans borrowed coat. Hongbin was perched on the edge of the couch, head in his hands and foot tapping a rather erratic rhythm.

“So… how are we both feeling?” Sanghyuk asked, fighting to keep a smile off his face.

“Choke on a dick,” Hongbin spat, not bothering to look up.

“ _Don’t_ be rude to my demon! It’s not his fault you decided to fuck my best friend AND his husband!” Jaehwan exclaimed, rolling over to glare at his boyfriend with such heat in his eyes that Sanghyuk was surprised Hongbin didn’t catch fire.

“Thanks for the support, sweetheart, but we have some things to go over,” the criminal replied, coming to sit on the foot of the bed and patting Jaehwan’s shin.

“First things first, you need to give Jaehwan back his phone,” he continued, this time addressing Hongbin. The gamer growled something that sounded like “Burn in hell,” but he eventually nodded.

“Second, Jae, you need to let Wonshik restart your medicine. I don’t know if you remember, but he had been treating you before the accident, and you were starting to get better. No offence at all, but you look like shit right now and you need your shot.”

Jaehwan blinked, looking at Wonshik for a second before nodding.

“Third, I heard him explain about your cams being leaked, and I know that’s hard to wrap your head around on top of everything else, but we have a public relationship because of that fact. I’ve said it before, you probably don’t remember, but I don’t care who you sleep with as long as you’re alive. I’m fine with keeping up an act if that’s what you want, but I still love you and I would say yes if you still want to try actually dating.”

Sensing danger from the hasty opening and closing of Jaehwan’s mouth, Sanghyuk back tracked.

“Don’t say anything now. Just think about it, ok? Wait for a while until you remember a little more and get a bit healthier.”

“Okay… I will. But about the medicine, Binnie please tell me what you think,” Jaehwan replied, huffing angrily at the look of surprise on Hongbin’s face. “Oh, don’t be like that. I’m justifiably furious with you but I still value your opinion!”

The gamer nodded slowly. “Well, despite how much I _hate_ both of them, whatever he was giving you really did help. I saw you several times after you started receiving treatment and you genuinely seemed healthier. I agree with the demon, restart it.”

An unexpected spark of admiration flared in Sanghyuk’s head. He really hadn’t thought Hongbin would approach any aspect of this situation with anything even resembling rationality.

“Alright, give it to me then. I fucking hate shots but I’ll suck it up,” Jaehwan said, with as much dignity as he could muster. Wonshik sighed audibly and hurried back to the kitchen. He and Sanghyuk had left the doctors medical bag here on a whim before they even went to the park, and the criminal was incredibly grateful that they had.

Seeing Jaehwan get his shot always made Sanghyuk feel like was intruding on something he didn’t understand. For one thing, it was a strangely intimate process, what with the shirt grabbing and heavy breathing and whimper noises Jaehwan made. But also, because Sanghyuk could quite literally watch his best friend save his beloveds life.

“All done. It didn’t hurt too badly, did it?” Wonshik asked, visibly happier as he pressed a Band-Aid to the injection site on Jaehwan’s neck. “Just a little bee sting,” the hacker replied shakily, releasing the death grip he had on the front of Wonshik’s shirt as the doctor lifted him down off the kitchen island.

Sanghyuk chanced a glance at Hongbin. The gamer hadn’t witnessed this whole thing first hand before, and he had clearly picked up on the weird vibe.

“This is why I have your name in my phone set as Medical Kink.”

“I have _you_ saved as Gambling Problem,” Sanghyuk said, grinning at Hongbin’s scowl. The criminal couldn’t bring himself to be anything other than happy. He and Jaehwan were in the same room, Jaehwan was starting to remember, and he had agreed to get his medicine again.

“I don’t have a medical kink! I’m a doctor, I’m doing my job!” Wonshik spluttered, but Jaehwan just looked thoughtful. “Didn’t we do that in bed once?”

“We did that _on_ your bed because you were depressed and didn’t give me another option!”

“Whatever you say, ghost doctor,” Jaehwan replied, ignoring Sanghyuk’s laughter.

Hongbin returned his furious gaze to his boyfriend and the doctor, who were doing that ‘whisper and giggle’ thing that used to piss Sanghyuk off so much. Now, the criminal just found it kind of cute.

“So, _demon,_ since you made the choice to actively ruin my life, again, what do you plan to do now?” the gamer asked.

“That’s up to Jae, don’t you think?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to edit this whole thing in one day lolol and failed miserably


	4. Chapters 40 - 46 (plus alternate Hongbin chapter)

**Chapter 40: Sanghyuk**   
**Summary:**

**Sanghyuk stared, at a loss. Bewildered. Nonplussed. Perplexed. He couldn’t think of enough words. He was too taken aback.**

  
**Notes:**

**Each boy is getting their own focused chapter, Hyukkie is first. Also, for everyone that doesn't like him in this story, I made him a bit unlikable on purpose but this part may help show that he's not actually awful.**

_ Sanghyuk: _

“That goes over here,” Jaehwan said, waving two men carrying his desk towards the far hallway.

At Hongbin’s urging, the hacker had agreed to finally start setting up his apartment. _His apartment._ It was still a very weird concept for Jaehwan, having his own apartment. He could remember it, sort of. Just bits and pieces, fragments of memory that would flare in his mind at the most random of times.

He had allowed his demon (Jaehwan guessed he should call him Sanghyuk now, since he remembered the man’s name, but there was still something fiercely demonic about the man’s aura that Jaehwan couldn’t escape) to hire professional movers and organizers, and said individuals were currently running all over with his belongings.

Jaehwan was still furious with Hongbin, of course he was. How could anyone expect otherwise? His boyfriend had cheated on him, refused to be broken up with, and then tried to trick Jaehwan into thinking nothing had happened at all. It had been a gross breach of trust, and yet… _and yet._ And yet, the hacker could not bring himself to kick Hongbin out. Couldn’t bring himself to make Hongbin leave his life, again, if the memories weren’t false.

There was just something indispensable about his boyfriend. Maybe it was time, they had been together for so long, after all. Or maybe it was the fact that Hongbin was Hongbin. Still the same Hongbin that Jaehwan had fallen in love with, still fiery and protective and (above all else) caring. Jaehwan couldn’t imagine his life without Hongbin. He didn’t know how he managed it before, but he didn’t think cutting ties was a possibility now.

And these other two… his imaginary friend and his demon. Jaehwan didn’t quite know what to make of them.

The first, Wonshik, was easier. He was open as a book, simple and kind. Jaehwan could remember… things. Only some. He remembered asking is Wonshik was a vampire once, remembered hasty kisses on an examination table, a glint of silver and then a stinging on his neck. The most predominant memory, though, was a feeling of safety. Jaehwan was always safe if the doctor was nearby. Even when the monsters in Jaehwan’s head threatened to swallow him for good, Wonshik had come and eased his loneliness in the _best_ way.

The second, Sanghyuk, was a question without answers. Jaehwan remembered a rollercoaster of emotions where his demon was concerned. First terror, then lust, then terror again, a growing fondness, then betrayal, and finally a love so blinding it struck the hacker dumb. There was passion there, an unending stream of it. Jaehwan got glimpses of it on occasion. In Sanghyuk’s defense of him to the public (Jaehwan had watched the video of their statement in his lobby and hadn’t been able to speak for several minutes after), the ghost of his lips on Jaehwan’s neck, the heat behind his murmured _‘Sweetheart’_.

But then, there was Hongbin, constant and steady Hongbin who had, after all, just been doing what he thought was best in a terrible situation. His rock, his demon, and his friend. How on earth could Jaehwan choose one? He didn’t think he could.

“Yes, put that in the corner please.”

With his desk in the bedroom that would now be used as his office, the hacker issued orders about where to place the various computer monitors and equipment he had lying around. Satisfied, he made his way back down the hallway and into the large living room. His mattress was gone, already up in the master suite where an _army_ of women were currently organizing his wardrobe.

“You two are worse than useless, Binnie is hanging picture frames while you laze around my kitchen,” he said, only half joking as he made his way into the kitchen. Wonshik was sitting on the far counter drinking one of the hacker’s redbulls, Sanghyuk’s hands braced on the opposite one, facing the cabinet. There was a set to the criminal’s shoulders, what looked like exhaustion.

Then it hit him.

_‘_ _No. No, I can’t. I don’t care if it hurts, I need you.’_

\---

“You look… you’ve looked like that before. Right there. With no dishes, but you were… that.”

Jaehwan’s words were a mumbled jumble from over the criminal’s shoulder. He turned, watching as the hacker blinked his unfocused eyes.

“Yes,” Sanghyuk replied simply. He knew what Jaehwan was picturing, when the two of them had first come to see the penthouse, when there were no dishes or furniture, when Sanghyuk had essentially tried to give the hacker the place for free. It wasn’t the happiest recollection for the criminal, but it was, he guessed, still a rather essential piece of the puzzle.

“I was cruel to you,” Jaehwan murmured, leaning against the kitchen island with an expression akin to dazed guilt. Sanghyuk sighed. “We were cruel to each other,” he replied, turning to face the hacker fully and forcing himself not to cross his arms like a petulant child.

In truth, Sanghyuk had realized (in retrospect) that Jaehwan’s words to him _hadn’t_ been cruel. What would have been cruel was if Jaehwan had told him nothing and just strung him along, giving him false hope at every turn. The hacker _had_ strung him along, but he had given Sanghyuk fair warning about it as well as giving the criminal multiple chances to back out. Sanghyuk hadn’t listened, of course, and now he didn’t know if he would _ever_ be able to back out. He was in way too deep and he knew it.

“That was one of the only times I remember you acting your age, seeming young. It broke my heart to say what I did. The look on your face, _it hurt.”_

“It broke my heart to hear you say what you did.”

Sanghyuk and Jaehwan hadn’t fought in the three days since they came here, probably a record for them. The criminal didn’t want to fight now, he let no animosity into his tone, simply stating facts to aid Jaehwan’s recovery.

The hacker shook his head, seeming to return to the present. “I’m sorry,” he said, voice so soft it was almost inaudible. “Please, don’t,” Sanghyuk replied. He had had his fill of Jaehwan’s apologies before, he didn’t want anymore.

Maybe his expression gave something away, because Jaehwan crossed to him and wrapped an arm around his neck, smoothing the lines from Sanghyuk’s brow with his thumb. It was so gentle, such a loving gesture, and all too _familiar._ The criminal could feel Jaehwan’s body heat through the fabric of his dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar and sleeves rolled up, the way he knew the hacker liked.

He tried to shift Jaehwan from him, making sure his movements were controlled as he stopped the hacker from carding through his hair with those nimble fingers of his. Sanghyuk remembered praying in this kitchen, silent pleas to a deity he did not believe in, that Jaehwan would love him back.

“I remember when I realized, even though I told myself I was wrong, and it wasn’t true.”

Jaehwan’s wrist felt too thin in Sanghyuk’s loose grip. “What do you mean?” he asked, meeting Jaehwan’s gaze with a steadiness he didn’t feel. The hacker’s revelations were sometimes too much for him to handle, and the criminal would have to remove himself for a while to calm down.

“It was after this,” Jaehwan murmured, gesturing around at the kitchen with the hand Sanghyuk was holding. “In another kitchen. We were… we were doing _things_ and then it just sort of… hit me. I looked at you and- we weren’t just, you know, it was- it was _different_. It was _loving_. And I didn’t understand it, and I kissed you, and it was _fireworks_.”

Sanghyuk’s breath caught in his throat. He knew what Jaehwan was trying to explain. Knew the exact moment, could picture it as if it was yesterday. The criminal had thought it was different too. Called it making love, in his head, remembered the way Jaehwan had looked up at him in the heat of it all, Jaehwan in his lap, rolling his hips smoother than butter. Sanghyuk could see the expression on the hacker’s face, bleary and confused, could feel that kiss. The way Jaehwan embraced him like a drowning man clinging to a life preserver.

“I have a video of that, if you want to watch it. If you think it would help you remember more.”

Jaehwan blinked up at Sanghyuk, arm still tightly hooked around his neck. “Should I?”

“That’s up to you, sweetheart.”

Sanghyuk was getting lost in the moment, the feeling of Jaehwan’s finger tips skittering along the nape of his neck. Staring fixedly at the X through Jaehwan’s right eyebrow, the hint of a scar peeking out from the neckline of the hacker’s oversized sweater. If he had just stayed, if he hadn’t thrown a temper tantrum, that scar wouldn’t be there. _If he had just stayed…_

“If I might interject,” Hongbin’s sharp baritone said, breaking the spell that had fallen over them, “Watching a sex tape of something he doesn’t fully remember doing might not be the best idea.”

Wonshik cleared his throat from the other side of the kitchen, Sanghyuk had forgotten his friend was sitting there for a moment. “I do remember, mostly, its hazy though. Maybe watching it would be good,” Jaehwan replied, his eyes not wavering from Sanghyuk’s.

Jaehwan hadn’t made a commitment to any of them yet. _Commitment_ was the wrong word. He hadn’t made a _decision._ Sanghyuk was starting to wonder if he ever would, or if the four of them would just stay in limbo like this for the rest of their lives. He, Hongbin, and Wonshik had alternated spending the night here (in guest bedrooms on Jaehwan’s request) so that the hacker wouldn’t be alone. It was a confusing set up to say the least.

“If you _do_ want to watch it, someone should watch it with you, just in case it becomes too much,” Wonshik said, finally speaking up for the first time in half an hour.

“I can’t,” Hongbin said firmly. Sanghyuk couldn’t fault the gamer for that, watching your boyfriend (his and Jaehwan’s relationship was off for the time being, but the feelings were still very much the same) have sex with someone you hated wouldn’t be enjoyable for anyone.

Jaehwan had picked up on the animosity between the criminal and the gamer very early on, but he hadn’t questioned it. “I’ll watch it with you, I _am_ in it, after all,” Sanghyuk replied, baring the cross for all of them. The hacker nodded, letting the criminal pull him from the kitchen. Hongbin’s glare nearly burned a hole in the back of Sanghyuk’s head as they left.

He and Jaehwan ended up in one of the guest bedrooms that had already been set up. It was medium size, boasting a dark purple bedspread over a queen mattress, crème colored twin night tables, a crystal lap that looked like a soap bubble, and a little flat screen mounted on the far wall. The windows were covered in plum colored sheers, and there were botanical prints hanging adjacent to the closet. It was pretty, if simple.

“I should have never let Binnie start decorating. I feel like I’m living inside an issue of architectural digest,” Jaehwan murmured, plucking at the sheers with a fondness that didn’t match his tone.

“Come here, sit,” Sanghyuk replied, settling on the foot of the bed and patting the spot next to him. Jaehwan looked around, momentarily confused, but took a seat and crossed his legs.

“So, there’s no sound since it’s from a security camera, but I think you’ll get the point. And I should point out that you let me keep it, just in case you don’t remember that part. I didn’t keep it to be creepy behind your back or anything,” the criminal said, clicking around to the video library on his phone.

It began with Jaehwan sitting on the counter, rolling up the bag of Cheeto’s he had been eating while they argued. Then Sanghyuk kissing him, his legs wrapping around Sanghyuk’s waist.

The present day Jaehwan stiffened.

Then, their shirts were off and Sanghyuk was mouthing all over Jaehwan’s torso while they talked. Then they were on the floor, Jaehwan straddling the criminal and kissing like people starved for physical contact. After that was when Sanghyuk began to tease, purposefully withholding, Jaehwan squirming, getting his kisses denied.

“I remember I was pissed at you for doing that. You’re such a jackass sometimes,” present day Jaehwan muttered, prodding Sanghyuk in the ribcage. The criminal chuckled under his breath.

The hacker was sucking on Sanghyuk’s fingers, then his cock, then Sanghyuk was working him open almost painfully slowly.

“You distracted me,” present Jaehwan said, sounding mutinous and shooting the criminal a look of contempt that Sanghyuk totally missed. The images on the screen were doing things to him he wished they weren’t. he could remember that euphoria all too well.

Then Jaehwan came (the first time), then he was back on Sanghyuk’s lap, sloppy kisses exchanged as he positioned himself. The hacker’s words, _‘daddy, lemme ride you’_ , still echoed in Sanghyuk’s head.

And he did. It was all there on the screen, Jaehwan’s rolling hips, their clasped hands, chests flush.

“Pause it,” present day Jaehwan said suddenly, a hand flying out to stop the video and jolting Sanghyuk from his reverie.

The screen was frozen on the moment Sanghyuk guessed Jaehwan had been trying to describe earlier.

_Their chests were flush, and Jaehwan raised his head to peer blearily at the criminal. He looked really out of it, his lips kiss swollen and his hooded eyes roaming around Sanghyuk’s face. ‘What is it, sweetheart?’ Sanghyuk asked, thrusting up a little so he could hear more of Jaehwan’s breathy moans._

_‘I- I don’t know,’ the hacker whimpered, dropping his head, his forehead pressed against Sanghyuk’s as he wrapped his arm around the criminal’s neck. ‘Do you want to stop? Does it hurt?’ Sanghyuk asked, hoping that wasn’t the case. He had to ask, though, he didn’t want to make Jaehwan sick._

_‘Fuck no,’ Jaehwan replied breathlessly, rolling his hips in smooth circles as he kissed the criminal deeply. Sanghyuk thrust up into him again, holding the hacker securely against him, inhaling Jaehwan’s moans._

“That was it.”

“That was it?” Sanghyuk asked, wanting confirmation. For Jaehwan to be absolutely sure.

“Yes,” the hacker replied, voice firm as he stared at the criminal’s phone. “So, you realized it then, denied it to yourself and to me, and didn’t come to terms with your feelings until a month later.” The words were spoken evenly, Sanghyuk allowing no malice or accusation into his tone.

Jaehwan paused, turning away from the screen and twisting his watch band around his wrist. It was looser than it had once been, Sanghyuk noted. “Yes,” Jaehwan repeated, not looking the criminal as he shifted, legs tucked underneath him.

“Okay, well… I guess that’s progress. I don’t have any videos of you and Wonshik, although you might. What with your crazy security system and all. And I’m sure you don’t need reminding of when you fell for Hongbin. It was long enough ago that that memory shouldn’t have been affected,” Sanghyuk replied, locking his phone and slipping it back into his pocket.

He made to stand, but Jaehwan grabbed his arm to stop him. “When did you- when were you sure, about your feelings, I mean?” the hacker asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes. They had never actually had this conversation before, to Sanghyuk’s memory, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted too.

“I knew the first time I almost killed Hongbin and you passed out. But I didn’t accept it until I gave you your watch and you fucked me as a thank you. I said it then, but you didn’t hear me. I didn’t want you to hear.”

Confusion washed over Jaehwan’s pretty face, his mouth twisting in concentration. “I didn’t just _fuck you as a thank you._ I wanted you because it was such a sweet gift, and it was important and meaningful and wonderful, and it showed me how much you cared. It wasn’t about the actual gift itself; it was the thought behind it. That I meant enough to warrant a gift at all.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Sanghyuk asked, perplexed. He hadn’t realized how flippant his phrasing had been, and it seemed to have touched a nerve.

“No! No, it isn’t even _close_ to the same thing,” Jaehwan replied, frustration clear in his voice.

Sanghyuk sighed. He didn’t want the hacker to get worked up, but it seemed like it was already too late for that. “It was sweet and heartwarming and- and emotive! If I wanted to fuck you as a thank you, I would have just given you head and left!”

“Sweetheart, calm down, please. I didn’t mean to refer to it so casually, okay?” the criminal replied softly, cupping the hacker’s flushed cheek in one hand.

Jaehwan didn’t shy away from the touch, the physical affection. He didn’t do anything actually, he stayed perfectly still like a person trapped by a wild animal. Sanghyuk yanked his hand back. He had made a promise to himself the day they came here not to touch Jaehwan unless asked. Unless Jaehwan prompted it. And even then, the criminal wanted to keep it to a minimum.

He _hadn’t_ been expecting Jaehwan to catch his wrist and lace their fingers together. “I’m sorry if I made you feel bad, or used, or hurt. I didn’t mean too; I just appreciated the thought- appreciated you. That’s all. It wasn’t my intention,” the hacker said, staring down at their clasped hands.

“Is that in general, or just this instance?” Sanghyuk asked, forcing the bite out of his voice.

Jaehwan glanced up at him, wincing at the criminal’s expression. Apparently, he hadn’t managed to school his features quickly enough. “Both,” the hacker replied, releasing Sanghyuk and scooting away.

He was an awful person and he knew it. Sanghyuk honestly didn’t know why he tried anymore, he was rotten to the core and nothing would ever change. He thought, for a few glorious weeks, that Jaehwan had managed to change him, to fix him, to seal up the gaping chasm in his chest where a heart should be, but he had been deluding himself. Everything he did, everything he tried, always turned out wrong. What kind of murderer believed themselves capable of love?

“I accept your apology, and I’m sorry too. For hurting you in ways you can’t remember yet, as well as ways you can.”

Jaehwan looked at him full on then, and he didn’t wince. “You really are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” the criminal murmured, gently pinching Jaehwan’s cheek and smiling weakly before standing once more.

This was painful. Jaehwan remembering he loved the criminal, but not yet aware of all the cruelties Sanghyuk had inflicted upon him. This must be how Hongbin felt, Sanghyuk realized. Suddenly, the idea of lying to keep their relationship intact wasn’t farfetched or stupid at all. It would save them both the hurt reliving it would cause.

He got three steps before Jaehwan caught him again. His slim fingers tightening around Sanghyuk’s forearm like a vice.

“Tell me. Tell me what I don’t remember.”

The order was firm. An unmistakable command.

“I don’t want too.”

“Tell me. You said yourself that I have a right to know.”

Sanghyuk didn’t want this. Jaehwan was correct, but that didn’t make the criminal want to comply. _‘Come on Hyukkie, you’re a fucking man! Just do it!’_ he yelled at himself in his head. The criminal took a breath.

“Let’s go in order. First, I told you I liked you better unconscious. It was a joke, but it was still a really shitty thing to say. Next, you tried to stop me from killing Hongbin, begged even, cried, and I ignored you and you ended up getting really sick. Then, I nearly choked you out and literally burned your vile sweatpants. In my fireplace. Oh, and my mother called you a bourgeois bottle-blonde to your face and I didn’t do anything about it.”

Jaehwan was blinking rapidly, but Sanghyuk continued. If he didn’t get it all out now, he probably never would.

“You almost got kidnapped, and had to get yourself out of it while I watched like the useless piece of shit I am. Then, I nearly beat your boyfriend to death because you said you didn’t love me. I hit you once, well, slapped, but I took our Dom/sub bullshit too far. And then I nearly killed you when I found out you were messing around with Wonshik. You didn’t know that, I don’t think, but you saw how upset I was and had to leave before I did something I’d regret, Hakyeon had to talk me down.”

“And the best bit is last. We had a fight and I asked if the only things you ever felt were lust and self-hatred. And I told you that I thought you were a spoiled, needy child, and you’re so deeply insecure that you’ll do whatever it took to try and make people adore you, just to feel like you’re worth something. And I taunted about Hongbin cheating, and said if you weren’t pretty, nobody would look twice at you. And then we hate-fucked against my bedroom wall before I kicked you out of my compound.”

“When the news of your cam scandal first broke, I called you goth-trash jailbait, a barely-legal sugar baby that caters exclusively to old men with severe depression, that you were publicly branded as a whore, and also called you a cam slut. And when you confessed to me, finally, the night of the accident, I got all pissy and took your watch when you were just trying to show me the inscription, I called you cruel, a liar, that I couldn’t trust anything you said, and then left.”

Sanghyuk was out of breath by the time everything was said. He hadn’t realized until that moment, but he had made a list of the awful things he had done. A list of his crimes against his hacker. A list of unforgivable things. He had most likely forgotten things, indiscretions, but he would say them when they came to mind.

Jaehwan stared at him through wide eyes for a full ten seconds. The criminal could feel himself flushing, burning with irrevocable shame at his own behavior.

But, for some ridiculous and unfathomable reason, Jaehwan began to laugh. “A barely-legal sugar baby that caters exclusively to old men with severe depression?” he asked, the words barely formed around the giggles pouring from his mouth.

“Stop- don’t do that. Don’t laugh, it’s not even close to funny! I was horrible to you constantly!” the criminal exclaimed. “I made you cry! Multiple times!”

“I cry a lot,” Jaehwan giggled, his shoulders shaking with mirth. “You just have a loose brain-to-mouth filter, there’s no reason to feel so bad. If I remember correctly, which please tell me if I don’t, I called you a murderer and a jackass and used you for months with almost no regard for your feelings, just because I was hurt after the breakup. And I tried to essentially move into your house and fucked around with your best friend without telling you. And let Binnie give me a hand job in your garden. If anyone has things they should feel bad about, it’s me.”

Sanghyuk stared, at a loss. Bewildered. Nonplussed. Perplexed. He couldn’t think of enough words. He was too taken aback.

“Thank you for telling me though.”

The hacker didn’t get it. He clearly either hadn’t comprehended the gravity of Sanghyuk’s mistakes, of he was having an episode of some kind. Because this wasn’t a normal reaction to the list of despicable things Sanghyuk had just rattled off.

“No- no you need to be angry with me! Did you hear anything I said?! I am an awful human being!”

“No, you’re not. You may kill people for a living, but I remember you telling me that you save people. I saw you on tv once, after, I saw that you had done some political thing to help the poor. Wonshik told me about your school for disadvantaged kids. You upgraded Binnie’s hospital room after your fight and called him an ambulance. And plus, you saved me. You saved me so many times I can’t even count, mostly because the memories are still hazy, but you did. You saved my life.”

“Wonshik saved your life, I just introduced you two.”

Jaehwan giggled again. “Exactly. How else would I have been able to get the treatment I needed if it weren’t for you? And you stood up for me so many times, to the press, to your mom, I remember that fun interaction by the way, and you stood up for me to Binnie when you knew he had hurt me. You aren’t an awful person; you just think you are. You’re actually super sweet and soft when you let your guard down.”

“Don’t say it,” Sanghyuk pleaded, but it was already too late.

“I forgive you.”

“Stop, you seriously don’t know what you’re saying!”

“Of course, I forgive you. Neither of us is innocent, but if you can devote this much of your time to try and make me healthy again, and if you are as brave and kind as I remember you being when I wasn’t torturing you, then you are way more innocent in all of this than I am. And you kept our act up. After the accident, you could have just told the public that we broke up, but you didn’t. You kept it going, even though you had no guarantee of ever seeing me again. You kept mentioning me so that my reputation wouldn’t be tarnished further. You kept protecting me even though there wasn’t anything in it for you.”

“I want to protect you too, I always have, I just didn’t know how. I tried to comfort you as best I could, tried to make you happy, but I’m really bad at things like that. I remember that guy trying to kidnap me. If I had gone with him, nothing bad would have happened. I would have gotten a new job and nothing more. I’ve met Taek’s boss, and Taek wouldn’t have let anything happen to me. He loves Binnie too much to allow that. But I saw the look on your face when we were going to leave, so I knocked the guy out instead because I couldn’t stand the thought of making you feel hurt or guilty. I think that was the only time I actually succeeded in trying to protect you.”

This was his dream Jaehwan speaking now. The blonde boy, clad in cobalt, a ring of silver thorns as a crown. The one who turned from a shadow to a snake to a human, shielding Sanghyuk from danger as best he could. The boy who died to keep Jung Hoseok away from him, whose life bled from him as Sanghyuk fell into the lilac sky.

Jaehwan had stopped laughing halfway through his declaration, an expression of painful sincerity on his beautiful face. “I remember watching you try every day. How you fought the instinct to lead with violence the way you were raised too, how gentle you were. You are such a strong person, Sanghyukkie, how could I fault you when wanting to be good is more than half the battle?”

“No, you must not have heard me correctly. If you had, you wouldn’t be justifying my despicable behavior. I don’t deserve your forgiveness at all, I,” Sanghyuk began, but was cut off by Jaehwan’s hand being pressed to his mouth. “Please, no offense, shut up and accept the fact that I don’t despise you. Because I don’t, and nothing you could say is going to change my mind.”

The hacker was smiling, a sappy, crooked smile that made the criminal’s insides turn to jelly. “No more telling me I’m wrong, or I really will be mad at you,” he said, slowly lowering his hand.

_This boy,_ Sanghyuk thought, looking down into his hacker’s molasses colored eyes, _this boy is exceptional._

“Okay, I’ll shut up,” he replied, watching his beloved’s beam grow impossibly brighter. He had never told Jaehwan about the pet name, used it only in his head and to his friends. Maybe he should. It couldn’t hurt at this point, he supposed.

“I call you Beloved, when I talk about you if you aren’t around. I call you my beloved when I think about you. It’s your contact name in my phone.”

Jaehwan blinked. “I never told you that, by the way, this is new information,” the criminal added as an afterthought. “So, you’re my baby demon daddy or whatever it is, and I’m your beloved. Okay.”

There was no rejection in those words, no disgust, no hatred like there should have been. Only mild amusement and what the criminal thought might he a drop of delight.

Jaehwan kissed him then, on the cheek, going up on tiptoe to do so and using Sanghyuk’s shoulders for balance. The criminal’s skin grew hot in an instant. One hand flat on his hacker’s back, the other curling around Jaehwan’s nape, clutching Jaehwan to his chest in a hug. His beloved hugged him back, and Sanghyuk could feel Jaehwan smile as he dropped kisses atop his dark hair.

“Thank you,” Sanghyuk whispered, dropping his cheek onto the crown of Jaehwan’s head, breathing in his overpriced sandal wood scented shampoo.

“Thank _you,_ how could I forget who always takes care of me?” Jaehwan replied, murmuring the words into the fabric of Sanghyuk’s dress shirt.

**Chapter 41: Hongbin**   
**Summary:**

**If he couldn’t have his beloved, nobody could. And especially not Hongbin.**

_ Hongbin: _

Hongbin kept his palm flat across Jaehwan’s bare stomach, one of Jaehwan’s legs hooked over his shoulder as he fucked him. Slow, messy with lube the way Jaehwan liked it, moving smoothly back and forth as Jaehwan whimpered his name.

Tonight, it was Hongbin’s turn to stay over at the penthouse and keep his boyfriend company. After receiving conformation from Wonshik that alcohol wouldn’t mess with Jaehwan’s medicine, the gamer had made Jaehwan’s favorite meal and accompanied it with several bottles of very pricy chardonnay, after which they ignored the bodyguards (who were now stationed inside the apartment as well as at the front door) and kissed their way up to the master suite.

It was only a matter of time, really, something like this happening. Hongbin had been waiting for it, if he was honest with himself, and he was just grateful that his boyfriend had decided to break his streak of celibacy with him. Jaehwan had made the right choice, in Hongbin’s opinion. Even with his considerable flaws, he was better than the other two.

“Binnie, ba-baby, harder,” Jaehwan whined, running his long fingers up the length of Hongbin’s arm before pressing them against his broad chest. Hongbin obliged, but only a little. He still wasn’t entirely convinced that Jaehwan was fully healthy again and he wasn’t going to take any chances by being too rough.

The scars on his boyfriend’s body were too strong a reminder of Jaehwan’s fragility. Under his hand, for example, Jaehwan’s stomach was covered with red lines like claw marks. A little above that, there was a small circle where is broken rib had poked through the skin of his chest. And higher, the nearly identical slashes over his collar bones that had presumably been caused by broken glass.

Hongbin shut his eyes and breathed through his nose, focusing on how incredibly Jaehwan’s heat felt around him. How tight his boyfriend was. The sound of his breathy moans. It was easier than looking at those scars. The scars hurt Hongbin. He wished they were covering his own body instead.

Was he a horrible person for missing Jaehwan’s unmarred skin? He didn’t think so. It seemed natural, to want the person he loved most in the world to be free from pain of any kind. The scars were just a constant and glaring reminder of how badly he had failed to protect Jaehwan.

“Baby- ngh, _look_ at me,” Jaehwan moaned, squeezing Hongbin’s shoulders and mewling at a particularly deep thrust.

Hongbin slit his eyes open, focusing on his boyfriend’s face. He was flushed, color high on his cheeks, the tips of his ears. His parted lips were red and bitten raw, pupils blown wide, a thin sheen of sweat on his forehead. Jaehwan was so ethereal… “Beautiful.”

But then, there was his eyebrow. The only scar on his face that hadn’t faded, and if the doctors were correct, would never fade. That X through his right eyebrow. It drove Hongbin crazy, and not in a good way.

Without thinking, without planning, the gamer pulled out and flipped Jaehwan onto his stomach. He knotted a hand in his boyfriend’s hair, leaning down to nip the shell of Jaehwan’s ear as he fucked into him, increasing his pace as much as he dared.

This had become somewhat of a trend since Jaehwan came home from the hospital. After all the lying of course. Hongbin had come to terms with the lying. He had done it to keep Jaehwan safe and (mostly) sane. But even with the best and most foolproof lie, physical reminders of the events before the accident were Hongbin’s downfall. He just couldn’t forget the fact that he had been driving Jaehwan and his sidepiece home from a club on the request of Jaehwan’s main piece. Couldn’t forget the way Jaehwan had called him _‘_ _Mon cher amour’_ , had said he was precious in French so Wonshik wouldn’t be able to understand. He wished he had been able to forget as easily as Jaehwan had.

But he hadn’t, and as punishment, he always ended up turning Jaehwan away so he wouldn’t have to see the scars. So that he could pretend he was sleeping with the Jaehwan who still loved him and only him, the one without a single blemish. And it fucking _hurt._

Hongbin yanked his boyfriend’s hair, watching the black strands curl around his fingers as Jaehwan whimpered and whined. His spine arched, the muscles in his shoulders expanding and contracting in time with his ragged breathing.

“Angel I’m- close,” Hongbin murmured, sliding his hands down to grip his boyfriend’s waist as his movements became fast and erratic. Jaehwan didn’t reply, whatever he had been about to say choked off in a sob as he came on the rich gold bedspread, fisting the fabric so tightly that his knuckles were white.

It didn’t take long after that, the pool of warmth in Hongbin’s stomach boiling over, thrusting slowly as he worked them through the spike of pleasure.

He rolled over and collapsed on the bed beside Jaehwan, thoroughly exhausted and breathing hard. Instead of curling up at his side like normal, Hongbin felt his boyfriend’s weight shift the opposite way, heard his bare feet padding into the bathroom, the sound of running water. He had wanted to clean Jaehwan up, enjoying the intimacy of aftercare and all it entailed, but it seemed like his boyfriend had taken matters into his own hands.

Jaehwan’s footsteps returned a few minutes later, a damp cloth dabbing at Hongbin’s skin with practiced motions. The gamer still had his eyes closed, but he reached a hand out and found that Jaehwan had put on a shirt. Opening his eyes, he took in the sight of his boyfriend in his favorite flannel pajamas, buttoned all the way up to the neck, a smattering of hickeys peeking out from the edge of the collar.

“Are you alright, angel? It didn’t hurt?” Hongbin asked quietly, analyzing Jaehwan’s shuttered expression. “I’m fine,” he replied, forcing a smile and laying the washcloth on the nightstand before kneeling on the mattress at the gamer’s side.

Hongbin hummed, knowing Jaehwan was lying but too exhausted to push the issue. He wrapped an arm around Jaehwan’s middle and drew him down, pressing soft kisses to his forehead and lacing their fingers together.

“I love you,” Jaehwan whispered, resting his head on the gamer’s chest. “I love you too, angel. So incredibly much.”

There was no hesitation in the answer. Hongbin did love Jaehwan, would always love Jaehwan. And that was precisely what made looking at Jaehwan so painful.

\---

“He what?” Sanghyuk asked, staring at Hakyeon in disbelief.

“Jaehwan and Hongbin slept together. The guards just told me. I asked them to keep me updated about what Hongbin and Wonshik did while they were at the penthouse alone, not because I don’t trust Wonshik implicitly, I do, but I thought you would want to know if anything happened.”

Sanghyuk hadn’t been expecting that. He hadn’t been expecting Jaehwan to choose Hongbin. He had been expecting Jaehwan to choose _him_. They had had so many good talks over the past few weeks, so much bonding! Jaehwan had accepted him and forgiven the things he had done; they had even kissed properly the last time it was Sanghyuk’s turn to stay over! Why would Jaehwan choose Hongbin?!

The criminal felt his insides heat up, bubbling with that omnipresent hatred he felt for Hongbin that he occasionally managed to suppress. Jaehwan could _not_ choose Hongbin. He just couldn’t. it was unthinkable. Unbelievable.

“I don’t believe you.”

Hakyeon let out an exasperated sigh. “It doesn’t really matter if you believe me or not. It happened and now we can go back to our normal lives and you can get back to work.”

Sanghyuk’s anger broke like water crashing through a dam. He had done everything for his beloved, everything, and now Jaehwan was choosing someone else?! Was going to leave him for the- what was it? The third or fourth time?!

Jaehwan would be dead if it wasn’t for Sanghyuk. He would be fucking _dead_. On a slab. Nothing was ever ever _ever_ good enough for his beloved. _Nothing_. He could never measure up to Hongbin and his personal brand of overbearing obsession.

Sanghyuk screamed.

No. This wasn’t happening. No. No, _no, nonononono…_

\---

_The criminal dreamed about a race track, all winding turns and smooth asphalt. The sky was a pale lilac, exactly the shade of Jaehwan’s lips._

_Hongbin was sitting in a wing backed chair beside the finish line, the watch Sanghyuk had given the hacker on his wrist and a porcelain cup of black coffee in one hand. The cup was alabaster in color, fragile, Lily of the Valley painted to form a wreath around the rim, a classic silhouette depicted in the center. Indigo black, the side profile of someone with short wavy hair, a sharp jaw, and a large pointed nose. Jaehwan's profile._

_Lily of the Valley smells lovely, small and delicate, unquestionably beautiful. But it is an extremely poisonous flower, Sanghyuk thought. An odd choice for decorating tableware. He watched Hongbin sip from the cup, dainty fingers and a placid expression on his handsome face._

_Sanghyuk heard the high-pitched whine of an engine in the distance, growing louder each second, but he couldn’t see any cars._

_Hongbin turned his head to the left, then the right. When he looked directly in front of him, he made eye contact with the criminal standing on the opposite side of the checkered finish line._

_Sanghyuk was draped in a floor-length coat of bloody scarlet, his dark hair fluttering in a breeze the criminal knew Hongbin couldn’t feel, a wicked grin on his face as he prowled slowly across the track. He knew without seeing it that he had two arrow straight scars through his right eyebrow, meeting in the middle to form an X._

_He had a gun in one hand, Sanghyuk noticed, aimed at an opaque shadow hovering beside Hongbin’s chair. Before the gamer could get a good look at it, the shadow vanished, and Sanghyuk saw the thin snake with cobalt scales materialize around Hongbin’s wrist, its dark eyes glittering and head resting on the face of Jaehwan’s watch._

_His gun was pointed at the gamer now. He couldn’t have been more than five paces away, but Hongbin’s bored expression never changed. The engine was louder, almost deafening, but still no car. Sanghyuk sensed the danger that Hongbin was in, a gun aimed at him and utterly defenseless. Why wasn’t Hongbin scared?_

_‘You’re going to fail. You’re going to die,’ Sanghyuk whispered, standing directly before the chair as he trained the barrel of the gun between Hongbin’s eyes._

_The snake wrapped around the gamer’s wrist hissed, baring its fangs as it slid to the ground. It never landed, morphing in an instant to take the form of Jaehwan. The blonde Jaehwan, in the blue suit he wore for their first meeting. He was wreathed in golden white light that was nearly blinding._

_The hacker’s teeth were bared like the snakes. He was snarling, a deep growl of a sound, and Hongbin seemed to realize it wasn’t an engine he was hearing, it was Jaehwan. Sanghyuk already knew that._

_The hacker stood between the criminal and the gamer, his back to Hongbin like he was trying to shield him. A crown of sterling roses sat atop his soft blonde hair. Or… no. On second glance, it was a crown of thorns, their tips dipped in silver and sharpened to a razors edge. His slender hands were curled into fists, and Sanghyuk looked at the ring on his fourth finger. Where the hacker would put a wedding band, if he was married._

_The solitary ring was an ouroboros. Half black and half white, a snake wrapped three times around his finger as it ate its own tail. Sanghyuk saw it swallow. It was alive._

_Sanghyuk laughed, a throaty, mirthful chuckle, pressing the barrel of the gun to the center of Jaehwan’s forehead._

_He pulled the trigger._

_Sanghyuk watched Hongbin fall out of his chair straight up into the lilac sky. He looked up at the gamer for a moment, not bothered that Hongbin was being swallowed by the lilac sky. Only enjoying the look of horror on his handsome face, the sound of his ragged screams._

_‘I win. You lose. You always lose, this game is getting too easy,’ Sanghyuk whispered, looking down at the body of his beloved crumpled before him. His golden aura was fading as crimson blood pooled around him._

_If he couldn’t have his beloved, nobody could. And especially not Hongbin._

\---

*Three Months Later*

“I can do the dishes, you need to go so you don’t miss your meeting with the publicist,” Jaehwan said, standing from the table and grabbing their plates. There was nothing better than pancakes for breakfast, and Hongbin knew that his boyfriend liked his pancakes best of all. 

“What’s your schedule like today, angel? Do you want to meet for dinner? I can make us a reservation?”

Hongbin trailed his boyfriend from the table, set up in a corner of Jaehwan’s enormous living room by the window, into the dark wood kitchen. It had taken some adjusting, each of them having their own place, but they usually ended up staying together at one apartment or the other anyway. Hongbin knew Jaehwan liked the arrangement, having a bit of his own space, a bit of freedom.

“That would be nice, we haven’t actually gone out somewhere in a while and you deserve a break from cooking,” Jaehwan replied, grinning at Hongbin over his shoulder as he set the plates in the sink.

Water gushed from the tap as the hacker began to clean up, Hongbin snaked his arms around his boyfriend’s middle and gave him a little squeeze. “Shikkie is coming at 11 to give me my shot, and after that I have a meeting with a new client at 3. Other than that, I’m all yours!”

Hongbin hummed, nipping the nape of Jaehwan’s neck until he began to squirm. “I’ll call that Italian place we like on my way. By the way, I have something extra that you can wear, I think it will look nice with that Balenciaga shirt you bought last week.”

Jaehwan squeaked and dropped the plate he was washing, spinning in place so he could see the gamer, face alight with expectation. Hongbin grinned, pulling a flat box from the inside of his jacket pocket.

Hakyeon had returned the silver Rolex, his third anniversary present, soon after the whole arrangement fell apart. Sanghyuk never came back, and Wonshik only visited every three days to give Jaehwan his shot. It suited Hongbin fine, although the golden watch with the milky way on its face was still kept in a place of honor in Jaehwan’s jewelry drawer. Nestled on a cushion of navy velvet. It probably should be in a vault, Hongbin thought, considering that it was worth over a quarter of a million dollars, but at least the Rolex was back to its proper place around Jaehwan’s wrist.

Jaehwan flipped open the lid of the box Hongbin handed him, shrieking and nearly dropping the diamond choker inside as he jumped on Hongbin. “You like it?” the gamer asked, barely able to speak as the breath was squeezed from him by Jaehwan’s koala hug.

“Yes! Of course, I do! It’s stunning!” Jaehwan nearly shouted, letting the gamer spin him around the kitchen.

“Just like you,” Hongbin said, planting a sloppy kiss on Jaehwan’s cheek. The hacker giggled and sealed their mouths together in a single moment of exquisite pleasure before he was gone again, skidding across the slippery kitchen floor to retrieve his present.

“Help me put it on?” he asked, cradling the choker in his hands as Hongbin approached. “Come here,” the gamer replied, taking it and standing behind his boyfriend, securing the choker around his slender neck.

Jaehwan’s long fingers brushed against the diamonds, admiring his reflection in the side of a butter knife. “It’s perfect,” he sighed, and Hongbin wholeheartedly agreed.

“I’m glad you like it, angel. I have to go now though, can’t be late. Good luck with your client, tell me about it at dinner, I’ll text you reservation details,” Hongbin said, dotting kisses on Jaehwan’s temple.

Jaehwan turned, tugging the white gold chain from under Hongbin’s shirt and examining it fondly. Shortly after the accident, Hongbin had taken his broken gift bracelet to a jeweler and had them make it into a necklace. The chain was fine, delicate, and the tag hung in the center. The inscribed words _‘My Binnie, For Always’_ , rested right over his heart. He never took it off. Ever.

“Alright, have fun charming the wits out of your publicist. I’ll see you later tonight baby.”

“I love you, angel.”

“Love you too.”

And with a final kiss, Hongbin headed out the door, into the elevator, and down to the garage.

**Chapter 42: Wonshik**   
**Summary:**

**They were really doing this.**

_ Wonshik: _

Wonshik exited the elevator in Jaehwan’s building and knocked on the penthouse door. The doctor was still unused to finding the foyer empty of guards, only a camera watching him through its unblinking synthetic eye. Jaehwan’s security system was quite comprehensive.

Sanghyuk had pulled back Jaehwan's protection detail almost immediately after the hacker made his choice, against the advice of both Wonshik and Hakyeon. Even Hongbin grudgingly agreed that having bodyguards was a good idea, but Sanghyuk would hear none of it.

The crazy lock buzzed and the front door opened, revealing Jaehwan in all his splendor and finery. Ruby silk pajamas, black satin robe, a diamond collar around his neck. Still, after all this time, the sight took Wonshik's breath away.

“Hi Shikkie! Perfect timing, I was about to get dressed,” Jaehwan said, grabbing Wonshik by the hand and pulling him inside.

“Hey Jyani. How have you been feeling since I last saw you?”

Wonshik set his medical bag down on the kitchen island, patting the countertop for Jaehwan to hop up. “I feel fantastic! Better than I have in my entire life!”

Jaehwan beamed as the doctor washed his hands. His increased strength was obvious without Wonshik’s questions. The hacker was still thin, but his arms now had subtle definition and his face was a bit rounder. His complexion was healthy and eyes bright. He looked like a totally different person.

“That’s great! I’m glad you’re doing so well,” Wonshik replied, grinning at his friend. “And this is lovely, but you have to take it off for a minute,” he added, unhooking the collar from around Jaehwan’s neck and setting it on the counter. It had too many diamonds for Wonshik to count. Must be a Hongbin present.

“Binnie gave it to me this morning, isn’t it just stunning?”

His guess was correct. Hongbin bought the hacker a new shiny trinket like once a week. “Yep, it’s beautiful.”

As Wonshik rubbed an alcohol swab across the side of the hacker’s neck, Jaehwan suddenly asked, “How’s my demon? I haven’t heard from him in months.”

The doctor bit the inside of his cheek to stop a peel of manic laughter from crawling its way up his throat. “He’s fine.”

Sanghyuk _wasn’t_ fine. He was the furthest thing from fine that Wonshik could imagine. The criminal barely spoke to him anymore, and if he did speak to the doctor it was mostly shouting and threats. Something inside Sanghyuk had snapped the day Jaehwan chose Hongbin over him.

He was violent and impulsive now, harsher than he had ever been. Hakyeon was doing his best to wrangle the criminal in, but with little to no success. Sanghyuk killed without mercy. No more of his _‘two strikes and you’re out’_ policy of forgiveness and understanding. Now, the instant someone fucked up they were done. More frightening than all that, though, was how much he hated Jaehwan.

Hate wasn’t a strong enough word. He _despised_ Jaehwan, _loathed_ him. He couldn’t even hear Jaehwan’s name without smashing whatever he happened to be holding. Sanghyuk was heartbroken, Wonshik knew that much, but his best friend had taken all the love he once felt for the hacker and channeled it into anger. It was bad. _So_ bad. The only thing that seemed to calm the criminal down was Darling, and even having the cat around wasn’t a foolproof solution. Sanghyuk schemed and planned behind closed doors, shutting out both the doctor and his second, and it frightened Wonshik terribly.

“Good. If you see him, will you tell him I miss hanging out with him? He’s still a fun person even if we aren’t dating,” Jaehwan asked, sounding unsure of himself as Wonshik lined up the needle.

“Sure, I’ll tell him,” Wonshik lied, waiting for the hacker to grab on to his shirt before saying, “Hold your breath, three... two... one.”

It was over in a moment, just a little whimper from Jaehwan as the needle pierced his skin. “All done,” the doctor said, pressing a band aid to the injection site and lifting the hacker off the counter.

“Thanks, Shikkie! While you’re here, do you want to help me pick out my outfit? I have a meeting with a client later this afternoon and Binnie took off before he could provide input.”

Wonshik smiled fondly, slipping his hands in his pockets and nodding. “Good! Come on,” Jaehwan exclaimed, dragging Wonshik up to the master suite and directly into his closet.

“So, I was thinking either a cream suit or all black with Binnie’s red coat, that always makes people look twice.”

Jaehwan began rummaging through racks of clothes (his closet rivaled Wonshik’s in size, which was saying something), and the doctor took a seat on the velvet sofa place against one wall. “I like you in red, but what if you wear blue? You look... impressive in blue.”

Wonshik crossed his legs, Jaehwan eyeing him thoughtfully. “Well, the client is some corporate asshole, high up, the kind of person to... you know.”

“The kind of person to underestimate you?”

“Exactly. Maybe blue _is_ the right choice.”

Jaehwan nodded to himself and dove back into the clothes rack, reappearing holding a deep navy blouse and black cigarette pants. “Close your eyes, Shikkie,” the hacker said with a cheeky grin, and the doctor obliged.

There was a rustling of fabric, Wonshik sitting obediently with his eyes shut. He could smell Jaehwan’s cologne even from across the closet. It was tantalizing, how his lavender shampoo mixed with the sandalwood.

“Thoughts?”

Wonshik blinked his eyes open and took the hacker in. “Perfect, you look great,” he said, watching Jaehwan’s face light up. “Thanks, help me with this, would you?”

Jaehwan sat with his back to the doctor and passed him the collar, letting Wonshik latch it around his neck. The diamonds glistened prettily against his skin. Hongbin had made a good choice.

The hacker stood and went to preen in his floor to ceiling mirror, Wonshik looking on with an amused smile on his face. “You need a coat, it’s snowing,” he said, feeling his phone begin to vibrate. Jaehwan was too busy to notice.

“Hey Hakyeon, what do you need? I’m just finishing up with Jaehwan,” he asked, holding the phone to his ear and watching the hacker lay out a selection of shoes.

_‘You need to listen to me very carefully.’_

The second in commands serious tone put the doctor on edge at once. “What’s going on?”

_‘Get Jaehwan, leave everything and get out of his house. Leave the Range Rover and take a cab to the airport, I’m emailing you plane tickets right now.’_

“What the fuck?! Why?!”

_‘Don’t argue just go! Sanghyuk finally snapped, Shik, he realized you were with Jaehwan and he fucking lost it, I tried to stop him, but he nearly shot me, he’s on his way there now with a bunch of the men, go!’_

Wonshik’s blood went cold. “He’s coming? Here?!”

_‘Yes, go! Take Jaehwan and get going! You have your passport, right?’_

“Where?! And yes, I always have my passport, you trained me yourself, I haven’t forgotten!”

_‘The airport! I just emailed you the tickets, and the address of a safe house now fucking leave before he kills you both!’_

“Thank you, we’re leaving now.”

Wonshik hung up the phone and jumped to his feet. His years of training under Hakyeon kicked in without conscious thought. Act first, ask questions later. “Jyani we have to go now, you’re in danger,” he said hastily, grabbing a coat off the closest rack at random. “Put on shoes, come on.”

Jaehwan stared at the doctor like he was speaking another language. “What? Why? From what?”

“Don’t argue with me, hurry up! Where’s your passport?”

“What about Binnie?! And my meeting? And dinner?!” the hacker asked, slipping into a pair of loafers. At least he was cooperating. “Forget your meeting, forget dinner, I’ll have Hakyeon tell Hongbin, let’s hurry!”

“You’re scaring me!” Jaehwan whined, slipping on his coat and rummaging around in a drawer before pulling out his passport. Wonshik dragged Jaehwan out of the closet by the hand, his heart leaping into his throat. “Good! I’m scaring myself too!”

The doctor gave himself just enough time to grab his wallet off the counter, leaving his medical bag and everything else behind before they left the penthouse, taking the elevator down to the second floor. Then the stairs the rest of the way and out though the back door to the street.

Jaehwan had the hood of his coat up and both put on face masks, stepping into a cab just as several large black SUV’s pulled up outside Jaehwan’s building.

“Fuck that was too close,” Wonshik muttered, and then louder, “Incheon airport please, international terminal.”

The cab driver nodded, and as they pulled away, Wonshik turned around to watch. He had recognized the cars, and sure enough, the giant form of his best friend stepped out of the car in the middle of the convoy. Even from the retreating view, Wonshik could see the icy anger written across Sanghyuk’s face.

“Wonshikie, why are we going to the airport?! Tell me what’s happening?!” Jaehwan was tugging frantically on Wonshik’s sleeve, but he only answered once they were safely around the block.

“Ok, so when I said your demon was fine, I lied. He’s gone a bit crazy and he was coming to... hurt you, or me, or probably both of us if we were there. That’s why Hakyeon warned me, he got us plane tickets so we can get away,” the doctor said, trying to whisper so the driver couldn’t overhear.

Jaehwan’s face went white. He grabbed Wonshik’s hand like he was trying to hold onto a life line. “I don’t care if he hurts me, but he hates Binnie, he’s going to go after him, we have to go back and save him, Sang-“

The doctor shushed him before he could say the criminals name. “Call Hongbin, tell him we’re going to...” he clicked around until he found the email confirmation of their tickets, “London, apparently. Tell him to meet us.”

“Wait, I have a flat in London! It’s really just a hide out, but I like having places to go in case I piss someone off that I shouldn’t have pissed off,” Jaehwan murmured, fishing his phone from the pocket of his coat and hitting speed dial number one.

Wonshik head the faint noise of the phone ringing and then,

“Binnie, Baby, listen to me. Go to your place, pack a bag, and get to the airport. Take the first flight to London you can, and I’ll meet you there. It’s an emergency.”

_A shouted exclamation on the other end of the line._ Wonshik flinched.

“I don’t know, Hakyeon called to warn me and Shikkie that my demon is really angry, and he wants to hurt us, and we just left my place. We’re in a taxi to the airport, and neither of us have anything but our phones and wallets.”

_Garbled question._

“I seriously don’t know, but my demon really doesn’t like you, so I want you to drop whatever you’re doing and get a flight. We’ll meet you at the crash pad.”

_More questions, in a frantic tone this time._

“I’d love to give you answers but I have no clue what’s happening, so will you just do what I ask?”

_Murmuring._

“Thank you, I love you too. I’ll see you in 24 hours. Please be careful!”

Jaehwan hung up the phone and turned back to Wonshik. “What time is our flight?” he asked, keeping a firm grip on the doctor’s hand. Wonshik checked. “3:30 pm.”

“Great, so we have time to shop in the terminal. We can’t just show up in London with no belongings, the flat is well stocked with like... emergency things, but nothing like clothes and stuff. And we’ll need to go to the grocery store when we land and get supplies.”

The hacker was taking this way better than Wonshik guessed he would. He was handling it better than Wonshik himself was, actually. The look on Sanghyuk’s face when they were driving away was burned onto the inside of the doctor’s eyelids.

\---

The ride to the airport was busy. Jaehwan and Wonshik laid out a rough plan of action for once they landed in London, namely buy food, get burner phones, and hole up in the hacker’s crash pad until Hongbin got there. Such a spur of the moment ‘vacation’ had thrown them both, but they were trying to deal with it as rationally as possible.

Jaehwan had suggested they do some shopping outside of security, so that ‘we don’t show up with literally nothing and get asked a bunch of bullshit questions by TSA’. Wonshik felt deeply grateful that his job with the family paid so well, because the only stores in the airport main terminal were designer.

They each purchased a Tumi suitcase that cost way too much and were now wheeling the empty bags through the Gucci store to find some clothes.

“Just out of curiosity, why did my demon decide to freak out today? I mean, you’ve been giving me shots for months, what makes today so special?” Jaehwan asked, holding up a hideous shirt against his front.

Wonshik swallowed hard, keeping his eyes fixed on a sweatshirt so ugly it was somehow cool. “So… here’s the thing about that. Your demon told me that under no uncertain terms was I to treat you anymore. He decided that the same day he removed your security detail. Hakyeon’s been covering for me every time I come see you.”

Referring to Sanghyuk as Jaehwan’s demon was a precautionary measure. They didn’t want someone to overhear them gossiping about the famous politician, especially with Jaehwan having been recognized twice so far. They’re publicity and the level of interest surrounding them was an unforeseen issue. He managed to bluff his way out of it both times, babbling at the person in rapid French until they left him alone, but it still wasn’t ideal.

The hacker turned to look at Wonshik with an expression of incredulity. “Seriously?! You went against him? And Hakyeon helped you?”

“Yeah. It wasn’t easy but, like me, the second didn’t want your death on his conscious. Hakyeon may come off as a steel-clad bitch most of the time, but he’s a rational person and doesn’t actually enjoy letting people suffer without reason.”

Jaehwan blinked and shook his head a little. “Remind me to thank him next time I see him. But… so, he figured it out?”

Wonshik nodded. “He must have. He has been so _angry_ recently, and he… he’s gotten more violent. I think we dodged a literal bullet by leaving when we did.”

They fell silent as a group of overexcited tourists entered the store and finished their shopping with little to no conversation. By the time 2:30 rolled around, each had a sizeable designer wardrobe in their overpriced suitcases (thank god for Calvin Klein underwear), as well as matching Louis Vuitton back packs stuffed to the brim with snacks.

The two boys approached security, Jaehwan in the lead, but they hit a snag when Wonshik tried scanning their tickets.

“Oh,” the security agent said, glancing from the boarding passes they printed at a kiosk earlier to Wonshik’s face. “You two are in the wrong place. Is this your first time flying charter?”

Charter? What the hell was charter? An airline?

Without missing a beat, Jaehwan aimed his most brilliant smile at the security officer, saying cheerfully, “Yep! Would you mind telling us where to go? We’re a bit useless when it comes to travel.”

“Of course, dear. Go down the terminal until you reach the end. You’ll see a door marked VIP, and show these to the agent there,” the officer said, handing Wonshik back the boarding passes and motioning them to the left. “Thank you so much, we really appreciate it!”

And so, Jaehwan and Wonshik hurried to the appropriate door, the latter in a state of mild confusion. “I take back what I said earlier, remind me to kiss Hakyeon next time I see him. I hate flying commercial,” the hacker murmured, a huge grin on his face as they were escorted down a ramp and ushered into the back of a very luxurious sedan.

“Why? What is- are we driving to London?” Wonshik asked, bewildered, as the car pulled onto the tarmac. “No, silly, Hakyeon chartered us a jet.”

Less than ten minutes later, an awestruck Wonshik found himself sitting across from Jaehwan in an armchair the doctor swore was made of clouds it was so squishy, inside a small private plane with a glass of champagne in hand.

“At least we can run for our lives in style and comfort,” Jaehwan sighed, tucking his legs under him and sipping his champagne. The hacker looked at home, like he _belonged_ in this jet, like he was born to be sitting there. Wonshik, on the other hand, felt _distinctly_ like he wasn’t supposed to be here. Living with Sanghyuk had its perks, to be sure, but he almost never traveled and hadn’t grown up wealthy, so had no idea how to act in such a situation.

“We’ll be departing shortly, is there anything I can get you gentlemen before take-off?” the friendly flight attendant asked, appearing from nowhere like a genie. The two exchanged glances, and Jaehwan, noticing Wonshik’s bewilderment, answered for both of them. “We are fine, thanks so much.”

The flight attendant nodded, her smile displaying way too many teeth for Wonshik to be comfortable, and vanished into the cockpit. “I’ve never been to London,” the doctor said, taking a fortifying sip of his beverage. He wanted to be excited, a solo vacation with Jaehwan was definitely something to be excited about, but as the hacker said, they were _running for their lives._

Wonshik was anxious. Terrified was actually a better word. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what kind of furious rage his best friend must be in right now. If they had left the penthouse just two minutes later, both he and Jaehwan would definitely be dead. He had no doubt Sanghyuk would kill him for disobeying a direct order and he also had no doubt that the criminal would kill Jaehwan out of sheer, blind hatred.

“Can I ask you something?”

Jaehwan gave the doctor an appraising look but nodded. “Ask away.”

“Why did you- I mean why did you choose Hongbin? We thought, or at least I thought, and I assume Sanghyuk also thought you would want to be with him. The two of you were getting along so well, and what with Hongbin’s history- I don’t know.”

That seemed to catch the hacker off guard. His eyes widened a bit, and he took another sip of his champagne before replying, “Listen, don’t get me wrong. Sanghyuk is a great person when he’s not being a crazy rage monster. And I love you. But Binnie- Binnie and I have been together for _so_ long. I genuinely can’t imagine my life without him. It would be like losing a limb… or half my soul.”

“Even with all the lying and the- the cheating? I think the lying is even worse than the cheating frankly, he tried to hide a huge part of your life from you!” Wonshik had spoken the words before he could stop himself, it was too hard to believe.

“He only lied to keep me safe.”

“Bullshit. He was lying so you wouldn’t leave him again. And you weren’t safe, you were dying! I asked him to let me keep treating you and he said he would rather have you dead than remember who I was. That’s why Sanghyuk and I tricked you out of his apartment in the first place, we couldn’t just let you die there without knowing the truth!”

“He was just scared.”

“Yeah, scared you would dump him again!”

“Look,” Jaehwan sighed, closing his eyes and leaning back in his chair. “Whatever the reason, I’ve forgiven him for it. We all fucked up at some point during this mess, and honestly, you’re in no position to be questioning my life choices when you snuck around behind your best friend’s back who also happens to be a violent criminal.”

Wonshik wanted to argue. He really did. But, sitting in this metal tube for 11 hours with Jaehwan would be a lot less enjoyable if he and the hacker were fighting. “Alright, fine,” he said, taking a sip of champagne. “Binnie is taking a 7:30 pm flight, he said he’ll meet us at the crash pad as soon as he lands.”

“Good.”

Jaehwan hummed, and the sound of rustling caught Wonshik’s attention. The hacker was pulling one of the chords he purchased at the terminal’s fancy tech store out of his backpack, clicking around on his screen with the other hand. “Can I have your phone please?”

Wonshik handed it over without asking questions, and he watched Jaehwan connect their phones and start pressing things. After roughly five minutes, Jaehwan smiled like a cat and removed the plug. “I hacked you, sorry. Not even Jinnie could track us now.”

“Oh, smart. I didn’t even think about that,” Wonshik replied, taking back his phone and pocketing it.

The engines began to whir, startling the doctor who immediately grabbed the arms of his chair and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a reason he didn’t travel often; he was really, _really_ scared of flying.

Warmth surrounded one of his hands, and he cracked an eye open to see his and Jaehwan’s fingers laced together. “Take off is a bit scary sometimes, but once we’re level you won’t even feel it,” the hacker said, his tone soothing as he gave Wonshik’s hand a little squeeze.

Wonshik’s heart began to race as the plane moved, the engines getting louder and louder every second. He clung to Jaehwan’s hand like it was the only thing keeping him grounded.

They were really doing this. Really flying to a different country to escape the wrath of Wonshik’s best friend in the entire world. Their lives were really in danger, this was really happening.

The plane sped up, faster and faster and faster, and then they were in the air.

** The Confrontation P3: **

Sanghyuk was _incandescent_ with rage. He could feel it, boiling just under his skin like acid.

Wonshik had gone behind his back. His best friend had snuck around and plotted to save the life of the person Sanghyuk most wanted dead. And he had been doing it for months.

_Months._ Months and months and months. Betrayal after betrayal, and Wonshik still had the _audacity_ to try and tell Sanghyuk that he was being paranoid. And tell him that repeatedly. How fucking _dare_ he?!

How had Sanghyuk been so stupid?! _As if_ Wonshik would actually be dating someone. How could he have fallen for it?! His and the made-up girlfriends _‘dates’_ had been every three days like fucking clockwork! If Sanghyuk have given that story even an ounce of consideration, the frequency alone would have given away the lie almost immediately.

Sanghyuk stomped into the elevator, directing his men to watch both the front and back doors, as well as the stairwell, while four of them escorted him up to the penthouse.

Before leaving the compound, Sanghyuk had commandeered Hakyeon’s key, using a little more force to do so than he would have liked, so when they reached the door to Jaehwan’s apartment, he slid it in the lock with every confidence it would work.

It didn’t. Damn Jaehwan and his stupid security system to hell.

“Break it,” he said curtly, stepping back so the bulkiest of his men would have a clear path. The _lock_ may be electromagnetic, but the door itself was still wood, and _wood_ could be easily defeated by brute force.

With an echoing crack, the door gave with little protest and it swung open. Sanghyuk unholstered his Glock, holding it loosely in one hand as he prowled into the penthouse.

“Jaehwan? Wonshik? Where _are_ you?” he called, but there was already a sinking feeling in his stomach. They weren’t here.

They _had_ been here not too long ago though. Jaehwan’s lavender body wash (the smell of which now made Sanghyuk physically sick to his stomach) mingled in the air with Wonshik’s distinctive musky cologne.

He slowly, carefully, made his way down the hall to where he knew the hackers home office to be. It was empty, but the object he was looking for lay forgotten on the black wood desk exactly where the criminal expected to find it.

Across the screen of the tablet that controlled the apartments security system, the words _‘Front Door Breached, Movement Detected in Living Room and Right Hallway’_ flashed in bright red font. The warning fell on deaf ears.

Sanghyuk picked it up and began clicking around, only the slightest bit thankful that the hacker had showed him how to use it when they were still on good terms. He found his way to the library of security footage, selected the live feed, and then rewound until this morning.

The first thing he saw from the kitchen camera was Jaehwan and Hongbin kissing in front of the sink, a jewelry box lying open on the counter. Sanghyuk grit his teeth and fast forwarded, watching a highspeed version of Hongbin leaving and then of Jaehwan dancing around the living room to music the criminal couldn’t hear. He hadn’t actually seen the hacker in over three months. He looked healthy. Sanghyuk wished he looked like a corpse instead. The mere sight of Jaehwan being happy made the criminal’s head throb with anger.

Once the timestamp reached 11:08 am, the hacker spun around (a full ballerina twirl) and skidded to the front door, revealing the criminal’s _backstabbing traitor_ of a best friend with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Sanghyuk hit fast forward again, through the procedure, and then switched to the upstairs camera, slowing down again once the two were inside Jaehwan’s closet. They were talking, Sanghyuk could see their mouths moving as the hacker looked through his clothes and Wonshik sat on the couch in there. That closet was really over the top, it was almost the size of the doctor’s bedroom at the compound.

Before he realized what was happening, Jaehwan was stripping out of his clothes, giving the doctor a distinctly sly look. Sanghyuk squeezed his eyes shut and counted to thirty. He couldn’t see Jaehwan’s body, he just couldn’t. Couldn’t ever. _Not again._ Mercifully, the hacker was dressed when the criminal peaked at the screen, and then, Wonshik got a phone call.

The feeling of the clip switched on a dime. Wonshik spoke frantically and nearly dragged Jaehwan from the closet, and Sanghyuk moved to the downstairs cameras again. He saw Jaehwan push a red button on the wall, Wonshik grab his wallet, and they were gone. The timestamp said 11:36 am. Sanghyuk checked his watch. It was 11:41. He missed them by _5 fucking minutes._

The criminal was different now, after loving and losing for the first time. He understood that about himself. The experience had changed him. And as painful as it was, Sanghyuk thought it was for the better. Someone in his line of work had no room for sympathy, no room for weakness. Losing Jaehwan had lifted the fog of compassion from his mind, leaving him sharp and clear. Hakyeon always tried to tell him that being kind wasn’t a flaw, but Sanghyuk understood that to be incorrect now. It was wishful thinking.

He was a cruel person by nature, violent and brutal and vicious. The criminal had tried to change who he was for Jaehwan, tried to be _‘better’._ There was no reason to continue that effort any longer. He had to embrace his true self, be cunning, because that’s what being the leader of the Han family demanded of him. No more playing games, just taking care of business.

The girl his mother had set him up with would do. She was fine, well connected and not entirely unattractive. And she was smart enough to know what she was getting herself into. It was long past due for Sanghyuk, settling down, choosing a wife. An heir to the family was what was required, and so he would provide one. Their wedding was next month, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel either happy or sad about it. It was necessary, and so Sanghyuk was going to do it. It was business. Just as finding and eliminating traitors was business. The family always came first.

_Hongbin._ The call was the catalyst of this whole thing, and Wonshik was clearly on friendly terms with the gamer. It _must_ have been Hongbin. He had close ties with the Jung family, and if _Wonshik_ was a traitor, Sanghyuk had absolutely no doubts that the Jung’s had someone in his own family reporting to them.

If Sanghyuk was going to find his runaway prey, Hongbin was the place to start.

<~~~~~>

Hongbin was packing. His overnight bag was unzipped, lying open on his bed, swallowing up the items he dropped inside. His boarding pass was printed, already in the front pocket of his backpack with his passport and his emergency stash of cash. He would have to get it changed to pounds once he landed, but Hongbin wasn’t worried about that right now.

He was still in shock. So Sanghyuk had _finally_ gone off his rocker. That wasn’t a surprise, what _was_ a surprise was that the object of his anger was apparently Jaehwan. That idiot loved Jaehwan, loved him more than he had any right to! What could have gone wrong in his stupid brain to make him want to hurt Jaehwan of all people?!

“Taek, I need you to do me a favor and it’s a genuine emergency,” the gamer said into his phone as he placed a shirt in his bag.

_‘Last time you said that, I regretted helping you before I even finished.’_

“I know, but I need you to dig around and find out why Sanghyuk would be after Jaehwan and Wonshik. I guess the threat he posed them was so big they are heading to London to try and avoid it. I don’t know anything more than that, but I’m catching a flight in a few hours to meet them.”

_‘Oh shit, fuck! Are you serious?!’_

“Deadly. Can you do it or not?”

_‘Of course, I can. Give me an hour and I’ll get back to you.’_

“You’re a life saver, thank you!”

Taekwoon hung up without another word.

Depositing several pairs of socks in the bag, Hongbin tried to remember where his travel toothbrush was. Jaehwan had put it somewhere when they got home from Aruba over the summer. If he were Jaehwan, where would he put a travel toothbrush? The fridge probably. Or in his office. Somewhere that made no logical sense, that was for sure. 

But there were toothbrushes at the crash pad. That was low priority. The gamer yanked several long sleeve shirts off their hangers and dropped them in his bag without bothering to fold them. It was winter in England, just like it was here, he needed warm clothes.

A knock at the front door. Hongbin froze. _Shit._

He didn’t even have time to think of what to do before there was a crash. They must have kicked the door in. _Fuck._

Hongbin scrambled for his phone and clicked Jaehwan’s message thread. He typed faster than he thought possible, sending the single message before loud footsteps echoed down the hallway.

_‘Angel, Sanghyuk is here. I love you to the ends of the earth and I always will, make sure Wonshik keeps you safe.’_

“Where are you, Hongbin? I know you’re here so don’t bother trying to run.”

Sanghyuk’s voice was deep and menacing, and the gamer had just enough time to see that his message was delivered before he tossed his phone on to the bed. It was 4pm-ish, Jaehwan had already taken off, he would get it when he landed.

Hongbin stood his ground. He was a fucking _man_ and he wouldn’t run away from this lunatic. He repeated that over and over in his head as his hands began to tremble.

The criminal appeared in the doorway, swathed in black and scarlet. He was so big he almost took up the entire space, a cruel expression on his angular face.

“Can I help you, now that you’ve broken down my _fucking_ door?” Hongbin asked, his voice miraculously steady. Sanghyuk snickered and the sound sent a chill down the gamer’s spine.

Sanghyuk eyed the open bag on the bed. “Going somewhere?”

“None if your business.”

“Where is he? Where’s Jaehwan. Are you hiding him and my _backstabber_ of a best friend?”

“No, he had an appointment with a client at three, check there.”

“And he just decided to take Wonshik with him to see this client?” Sanghyuk asked, voice a purr and he slowly stepped into the bedroom.

“Crazier things have happened. They’re very fond of each other and they’re both weirdos. It wouldn’t be that much of a surprise.”

“Mm I don’t think so, try again. Where is he?” the criminal asked, coming to a stop close enough that he could look down on Hongbin.

“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you,” the gamer snapped, crossing his arms and trying not to notice the gun in Sanghyuk’s hand. The chrome glinted brightly under the bedroom lights; it was hard to ignore.

“Fine. You have ten seconds to tell me where he is.”

The barrel of the gun was cold against the center of Hongbin’s forehead. His hands were trembling harder so he slid them into his pockets as casually as he could. Was Sanghyuk _actually_ going to shoot him? They had been building to this for a long time, but Hongbin had never felt scared before. He _did_ now.

“You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”

“No.”

Sanghyuk smiled, such a cold smile that it froze the blood in the gamer’s veins.

“You’ve seriously lost it, haven’t you?” Hongbin said, making his voice as taunting as possible. If he was going to die, he might as well piss the criminal off while he still had the chance.

“I haven’t lost _anything,_ but I have _gained_ a sense of just how much of a toxic and pathetic little _bitch_ your boyfriend is,” Sanghyuk replied, his smile looking more maniacal by the second.

Hongbin bristled. Even with a gun to the head, those words weren’t going to fly with him. “Do _not_ speak about Jaehwan like that, you colossal fucking lunatic,” he spat, glaring at the criminal as ferociously as he could manage.

“I’m _not_ a lunatic,” Sanghyuk hissed, the sound of the safety being clicked off making Hongbin flinch.

This was just a video game. An incredibly realistic VR simulator. He was going to die, and then use one of his extra lives to respawn somewhere else on the map. Hongbin knew that wasn’t true, but it was a more optimistic thought than _‘this too-tall asshole in an overpriced suit is about to kill me and there’s nothing I can do about it.’_

“Let’s finish this now, I’ve been looking forward to this moment for so god damn long and I don’t want your fat mouth to ruin it.”

The barrel of the gun pressed more firmly against Hongbin’s forehead. _‘That’s probably going to leave a mark,’_ Hongbin mused, and then realized, _‘yeah no shit it’s going to leave a mark, a bunch of my skull blown to bits is going to be pretty hard to miss.’_

“Any last words? I don’t actually care but I feel like I should ask anyway.”

This was an opportunity. A single, _final_ opportunity for Hongbin to hurt Sanghyuk he the worst way possible. What should he say? What would drive the criminal to the brink, push him to the point of no return? What lie could he come up with? Sanghyuk deserved nothing but the most cruel-

Hongbin _smiled_. His most devious, shark-like smile, bright white teeth flashing and dimples on full display. This was going to be absolutely _perfect._

“Wonshik and Jaehwan are fucking behind your back again. And they are doing it with my blessing.”

Whatever mask of composure the criminal had been holding broke when he heard the lie. His face contorted with rage, and the way he growled was so animalistic it nearly distracted Hongbin from seeing Sanghyuk’s finger squeeze the trigger.

<~~~~~>

Lee Hongbin was dead. _Finally._ It was well past due in Sanghyuk’s opinion.

He stared down at the gamers body crumpled before him, the bullet hole in the center of his forehead as bright a crimson as his own coat, scarlet blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His dark eyes were glassy, fogging over with the nothingness of death. _Good._

Sanghyuk took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. _One down, two to go._ The bedroom reeked of gun powder, acrid ammonia. Sanghyuk had always loved that smell, even as a child when he would practice shooting on the range with Hakyeon and his father. It smelled like the solution to every problem.

After taking a moment to compose himself, the criminal stepped around Hongbin’s body, holstered his gun, and began riffling through the open duffel bag on the bed.

Socks, a few shirts, some truly hideous branded sweatpants that were, if Sanghyuk hadn’t missed his guess, a Jaehwan purchase. There was also a beanie, two pairs of sunglasses, black leather gloves, and what appeared to be a hand knitted scarf of light blue wool. Nothing that would be of much use.

Moving on to the back pack, Sanghyuk found a laptop, enormous headphones, a wireless computer mouse, two granola bars, and... Hongbin’s passport, 20 thousand dollars in cash, and a one-way ticket to Heathrow airport departing at 7:30 tonight. The gamer had been planning to run away. _Excellent._

The criminal pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Hakyeon’s number, holding it to his ear as he recounted the large wad of bills. It would be a down payment of sorts, a reimbursement for the time Sanghyuk wasted dealing with Jaehwan’s bullshit. It wasn’t nearly enough, but it was a start.

_‘Hello?! Sanghyuk?!’_

“Yes, it’s me, calm down.”

_‘Are you alright?! Where are you?!’_

“Don’t shriek, it gives me a headache. And I’m better than alright, that asshole is finally dead and good riddance. Now, I need you to arrange for one of my jets to be fueled and ready on the airstrip in two hours.”

_‘Who’s dead?! Where are you going?!’_

_“We_ are going to London, start packing. I’m heading home to pick you up.”

_‘Tell me who is dead.’_

“Hongbin of course, who did you think? And are you listening, get the jet ready!”

Silence on the other end of the line. Sanghyuk could only hear his second in commands uneven breathing.

_‘Why do you want to go to London?’_

“Because,” Sanghyuk snapped, feeling more exasperated with each passing moment his orders went unfollowed, “Hongbin had a ticket for a flight going to London tonight, and I think I’m right in guessing that the bitch and our traitor are going there as well. Now make arrangements and be packed by the time I get there.”

Without waiting for a reply, Sanghyuk ended the call and spun on his heels. There was nothing else for him to do here, he had accomplished his goal and gained some useful information to boot.

“Have the cleanup crew come deal with this,” the criminal said sharply, as he walked out the door passed his men. “And you two,” waving at the two closest to the entrance, “Stay here until it’s done. The rest of you, with me.”

Hongbin’s last words were gnawing away at the inside of Sanghyuk’s skull. So Wonshik didn’t simply disobey orders, he was having an affair with one of the people Sanghyuk hated most in the world. Again.

It had better have been worth it, because they were both going to die for it.

Sanghyuk had always _loved_ London. Murdering his best friend and ex-lover there would be almost poetic.

**The Reckoning**

Wonshik was carrying both his and Jaehwan’s overpriced suitcases down the stairs of the jet, the hacker already standing on the tarmac of the private air strip they had landed at only minutes ago. His backpack was hooked over one of his narrow shoulders and his phone was clutched in both hands, but he wasn’t typing. Jaehwan was just staring blankly at his screen with a glazed look in his eyes, his lower lip trembling.

“Hey, Jyani... are you,” he began, but the hacker held up a hand to silence him. Wonshik tried peeking over his shoulder, and the message he saw made his blood run cold.

**Binnie Baby**

**Delivered 4:17 PM**

_‘Angel, Sanghyuk is here. I love you to the ends of the earth and I always will, make sure Wonshik keeps you safe.’_

The doctor didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know if he should say anything at all. After staring at his screen for a full minute, Jaehwan began clicking around so fast that Wonshik couldn’t follow what he was doing. He ended up on a camera feed of what the doctor recognized as Hongbin’s apartment.

Jaehwan scrolled back until the picture said 4:17PM, and then the two of them watched as Sanghyuk entered the room, exchanged words with the gamer for less than five minutes, then held the barrel of his gun to Hongbin’s forehead and pulled the trigger. The feed didn’t have sound, but that didn’t make it any less gruesome to see.

The hacker choked on a sob, but there were no tears in his eyes. What was in his eyes was _rage._ “Jae, I,” Wonshik tried again, swallowing down the bile rising in his throat after watching a person he knew get killed by his best friend, but Jaehwan silenced him again.

He clicked onto a chat thread with the contact name _‘Kim Shookjin’_ and attached the clip from the security camera feed. After that was sent, fingers shaking, he typed out the message: _‘Tell Han Sanghyuk that he is a dead man walking.’_

Without a word, the hacker took his suitcase from Wonshik and hurried over to a long black car that had apparently been waiting for them, handed it to the chauffer, and slid through the open back door. The doctor, still reeling from the footage of Hongbin’s death and the incredibly ominous message Jaehwan had sent, took a second to shake himself and then followed the hacker into the car.

The plane ride hadn’t been too bad, they hadn’t argued anymore about the current state of Jaehwan’s love life which, in retrospect, had been a _very_ good thing. They had drunk champagne and ate the majority of their snacks, watched the first three Harry Potter movies, and then Jaehwan had fallen asleep with his head in the doctor’s lap, Wonshik dozing off very soon after.

“Are you okay?” Wonshik asked quietly, finally working up the courage to speak after ten solid minutes of silence. Jaehwan had told the driver to take them to the South Kensington tube station but hadn’t said a word since.

“No. Of course, I’m not _fucking_ okay. I will be _okay_ when Sanghyuk is lying dead in a pool of his own blood,” the hacker spat, not turning away from the window. Wonshik couldn’t think of a single response to that, so he simply stayed quiet and watched the buildings get taller and taller as they drove along.

Once the car deposited the two men and their bags outside the station, Jaehwan led him down the stairs to the entrance. Instead of taking a train, though, the exited almost immediately via a different staircase. “I don’t know if you noticed,” Jaehwan murmured, steering him out on a street called Old Brompton Road, “Your boss saw Binnie’s plane ticket. By my most conservative estimation, we have a two to three-hour head start on him, but that’s not as much time as I’d like. Passenger manifests will be hard to find since we chartered, but they still checked our passports so there’s a record of us entering the country.”

“Okay, so what does that mean for us?” the doctor asked, still a little shell-shocked. He was staring around at all the street signs, using the little English he remembered from school to read the words Pelham St. “It means that if he found the plane we used, he could then figure out the car we used fairly easily. I had us dropped at a tube station so there was no way he could discover the address of the crash pad no matter how hard he tries.”

That was incredibly quick thinking, Wonshik mused. He chanced a glance at Jaehwan, noting his determined expression with a touch more respect. “Do you speak any English,” he asked, and the hacker replied, _“Obviously._ Why would I live somewhere I couldn’t communicate effectively?” in what sounded like a flawless accent. “French is useful as well. Sometimes you all seem to forget that I’m actually really smart,” he added in Korean.

“Wait, your medicine!” the doctor exclaimed, nearly tripping over his feet when he realized they didn’t have any serum with them. Jaehwan, however, was unphased. “Make a list,” he said, turning Wonshik down another street he missed the name of. “Equipment, supplies, whatever you need. One of the bedrooms is empty, so you can set up a makeshift lab in there. You figured out the formula in like... a day. My blood and I are right here, so it shouldn’t be too hard to whip up some more, right?”

“No,” Wonshik said hesitantly, “But setting up a new lab is almost cost prohibitive. Do you know how expensive medical equipment is?”

“Money’s not an issue. Make a list.”

After five more minutes of walking, the two turned onto a street of fancy looking grey brick rowhouses. Jaehwan made a bee line for one of them midway down the road and jogged up the front steps. Wonshik assumed he had an apartment on one of the floors, but once the hacker typed in a code on the electric lock and swung open the door, the doctors jaw nearly hit the floor.

“Welcome to the crash pad.”

\---

Wonshik was seated on a surprisingly comfortable couch in Jaehwan’s office, writing out a list of things he would need to make the serum while the hacker worked in front of a bank of computer screens at a desk across from him.

The crash pad, it turned out, was more of a crash mansion. It was four stories, not including the basement or rooftop terrace, with ultra-modern furnishings and surprisingly funky interior architecture. On his hasty tour, Jaehwan told him that the crash pad was located in Chelsea, and that it had five bedrooms, two of which were at the doctor’s disposal.

“I’m going to go buy food and other stuff we need,” Jaehwan said out of nowhere, making the doctor jump. “Wait, you’re leaving me here _alone?!”_ he asked, watching the hacker stand and smooth down the front of his shirt.

The hacker spared him a single empty look before walking quickly out of the office.

“Hey!” Wonshik exclaimed, dropping his notepad and jogging after him. “The door code is #0929 if you want to leave, which you really shouldn’t. We need groceries, we can’t live off chips for the rest of our lives, and one of us out and about will look a lot less suspicious than two.”

“But I don’t want to be here alone!”

“Do you know what I was just doing?”

“No,” Wonshik replied, following Jaehwan up the stairs and into the master bedroom.

“London has one of the most comprehensive CCTV networks in the world. Which is both great, because I can monitor the area around us to make sure your boss isn’t here, but also effectively puts us under house arrest because I am not the only one watching those cameras,” Jaehwan said, with the air of simplifying something very complicated so a child would understand.

Wonshik watched him put in a pair of green contact lenses and begin to fill in his scarred eyebrow. “I was erasing the evidence of our little walk from the station so anyone looking wouldn’t see two tall Korean men with suitcases, one of whom was so star struck that he nearly tripped at least three times.”

“I didn’t trip three times!” He’d tripped twice.

“You’ve never been to this country before, and it shows,” Jaehwan said curtly, capping his eyebrow pencil and hurrying out of the bathroom. “But if you can hack the camera things then what does it matter if I come along?”

Jaehwan sat down on the floor of his closet, the only thing inside being a small safe. “It _matters_ because I don’t want to be fucking with them every two seconds, and if you wander off or get lost, I don’t know what I’ll do. So _please_ just stay here, I won’t be gone long.”

The hacker pulled a surprisingly large wad of cash from the safe’s innards, as well as a driver’s license and a credit card. The doctor could also see several passports, a flash drive, and what appeared to be actual gold, but Jaehwan left those alone.

“Whose credit card is that?”

“Christopher Daniels. AKA me. That’s who owns this house too. And the cars.”

“Clever,” Wonshik replied, trailing after the hacker as he hurried back down the stairs to the ground floor. “I know.”

“So, you’re _really_ going to leave me here all by myself?”

“Yes. Go work on your list so it’s ready by the time I get back. Feel free to snoop through my stuff, there isn’t much.”

Jaehwan grabbed a set of keys off a hook on the wall and then entered the garage. “Don’t you have anything... _less_ conspicuous?” the doctor asked, looking at the flashing lights of a large, black Mercedes sedan.

“I don’t know if you noticed on our way here, Shikkie, but this is a relatively nice neighborhood. It would be more conspicuous if I drove down the street in some shitty little hatchback. I’m blending.”

“Oh, I almost forgot,” Jaehwan exclaimed, one foot already in the car and the hood his coat up. “Give me your ID.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m getting you a fake, why do you think?”

Wonshik grudgingly fished his wallet from his back pocket and handed his ID over. “How do you afford all this? _Surely_ being a hacker doesn’t pay that well.”

Jaehwan got in the car and rolled down the window, engine purring to life as he opened the garage door. “You know the houses on either side of this one? I own those too, and the amount I charge for rent is honestly ridiculous. We have properties all over the world, Binnie and I took investing very seriously.”

And with that, the hacker backed the car out on to the street and drove away at a speed that was nearly too reasonable for the doctor to believe.

<~~~~~>

“I can’t believe you brought that _damn_ cat,” Hakyeon muttered, glaring at Darling as she jumped up on Sanghyuk’s lap.

They were sitting side by side on the couch thing in Sanghyuk’s private plane, watching a movie about zombies and eating popcorn from a bowl in front of them.

“Of course, I brought her. I _love_ her,” the criminal replied, stroking the cat’s soft white fur, not even half caring that she was shedding all over his suit. “So, you brought her along while you try and murder her owner? That’s nice.”

“I adopted her, _I’m_ her owner,” Sanghyuk said, scowling at his second before lifting the cat up and nuzzling her little ears.

“We’ll be landing in an hour, the preparations in the safehouse are ready, Sir,” one of the men said, sticking their head around the curtain that divided the front and back halves of the plane. “Good.”

<~~~~~>

  
As Jaehwan suggested, Wonshik was snooping.

He finished his list of equipment, the estimated total cost of which made his eyes water, and he had left in on the hacker’s desk. He was trying his absolute hardest not to think about the footage of Sanghyuk shooting Hongbin, he really was, but it was just so _awful._

Wonshik was a doctor, used to the comfort and safety of his lab and the compound. Sure, he may be well acquainted with gunshot wounds, but only after they had been inflicted. He didn’t do _‘field work’_ at all. Ever.

This whole situation was out of his depth. Being in a foreign country was new. Having someone actively trying to kill him was new. Staying under the radar was new. At home, being a member of the Han family was all the protection he ever needed. Obviously, there were threats, the Jung’s for example, but they never really felt real to Wonshik. More like a monster in the closet.

But he was doing his best not to freak out and start crying like a baby, for Jaehwan’s sake more than his own. It wouldn’t be helpful to either of them.

At the moment, he was roaming around the ground floor. Other than the safe and, one pill bottle of Hongbin’s, several pill bottles of Jaehwan's, and an array of toiletries, there had been nothing in Jaehwan’s bedroom. No clothes, no shoes, just a made bed and a framed picture of the hacker and the gamer on the nightstand. All the rooms were furnished, if sparsely, apart from the one Jaehwan had told him he could use for a lab. So, having investigated all of those, he had moved on to the common area.

Six bowls, six plates, six cups, two wine glasses, and six fork, spoon, and knife combinations. That’s all that had been in the cabinets and drawers. The fridge was completely empty, but there was a sealed bottle of vodka in the freezer, a post it note with the word _‘medicinal’_ stuck on the front. This seemed like a situation that called for medicinal use, so the doctor cracked the seal and poured a healthy measure into one of the wine glasses. Not the right glass but needs must.

He made a face at the first mouthful, burning as it went down, but he heard the garage door open just as he was about to go explore the basement.

_“Honey,_ I’m _home!”_ Jaehwan called, his tone very sarcastic as he backed into the kitchen with two large paper bags. “Oh, you made me a drink, how thoughtful! There’s another bag in the car, be a love and go fetch it, would you?” he continued, setting his purchases on the counter and swiping the glass from Wonshik’s hand.

The doctor went without comment, grabbing the bag and closing the trunk before reentering the house. “You said you had a flat in London. If I’m not mistaken, flats are apartments, right?” he asked, setting the bag down next to the others and watching Jaehwan sip the alcohol. “You’re _not_ mistaken, and I _do_ have an apartment here as well, but that’s for like... real emergencies. It’s not as comfortable as this.”

“Does _this_ not constitute a real emergency?”

“No, a _real_ emergency is your boss showing up at the front door with ten heavily armed men and a battering ram.”

Wonshik blinked. That _did_ sound like a real emergency. Jaehwan set the glass down on the counter and began unpacking the bags. “Here, I got you a first aid kit, so you feel more at home,” he said, sliding a little red and white box across to the doctor.

Wonshik took it and set it aside. “How can I help?” he asked, but Jaehwan just laughed. “Sit somewhere and keep looking pretty. I have work to do,” he replied, not even glancing at the doctor as he pulled a phone box out of one of the bags.

“Hey, I know this is a lot, and I know you’re trying to stay strong after-“

_“Don’t,”_ Jaehwan snapped, his sarcastic demeanor dropping away in the blink of an eye. “Don’t say it. I know you think I should be a sobbing mess right now, but I will grieve when his murderer is dead in the fucking ground. So, don’t even start.” He turned and stomped out of the kitchen, new phone in hand, and disappeared up the stairs without a backward glance.

Wonshik stared after him for a few moments, his heart aching to see one of his favorite people trying to mask their pain. But once he realized the hacker wasn’t coming back, he set to work unpacking the supplies. Two bags were completely full of groceries, but the third bag...

Two handguns, four boxes of ammo, mace, two tasers, gloves, and a pack of zip ties. There was also another disposable phone and two passports, but those were low priority.

“Jaehwan!” he exclaimed, dropping the box of cereal in his hand and jogging up the stairs. Where the hell did a twenty-three-year-old hacker from halfway across the world get all that in less than an hour?! How did he even know where to go?!

“Jaehwan, we need to discuss the _arsenal_ in the kitchen!” he continued, but then stopped dead several feet outside the office. The hacker was talking to someone on the phone. Eavesdropping wasn’t very polite, but it seemed warranted.

“That’s right. Ten million cash, plus another five if you get it done in under a month,” Jaehwan was saying, making no attempt to lower his voice.

A pause.

“Oh, and if Cha Hakyeon gets killed in the crossfire, you’re pay gets cut in half. I don’t want him hurt, got it?”

Another pause.

“Great! It’s a pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Jung.”

Wonshik’s heart nearly stopped.

There was another pause, and then the faint sound of a dial tone.

“Hi there, I’d like to speak to the boss.”

A garbled sort of shouting.

“Yes, I’m aware of exactly who is is that I’m calling, now let me speak to the boss.”

Wonshik didn’t hear any reply, but then...

“Hi there, boss of whatever faction this is. Sorry to bother you, but I have a hot tip about a file that was stolen from you several months ago.”

No way, he _couldn’t_ be calling the-

“Yep, it was stolen by Han Sanghyuk, leader of the Han family crime syndicate based in Seoul.”

Mumbling.

“Hmm, I don’t know who helped him actually. His boyfriend at the time, Lee Jaehwan, is a really good friend of mine, and he was super pissed when Sanghyuk hired someone else for the job. Kim something, I think.”

_No no no-_

“Right! I know, it’s _such_ a shitty thing to do! And I have another hot tip, he’s currently in London. That should be enough to get you started!”

“No, thank _you,_ Mr. Sato. You’re doing me a huge favor.”

The hacker sounded downright chipper! If the doctor hadn’t been hallucinating, Jaehwan had just paid the Jung family to go after Sanghyuk and also set the Yakuza on him! How could anyone sound so happy when they were condemning a man to death?!

There was the sound of shuffling papers, tapping on a keyboard, and then- “No need to keep skulking in the hallway, Honey, I can see you.”

**The Grief**

“Sir, phone for you.”

Sanghyuk looked up from a printed packet of passenger manifests of all the Incheon/Heathrow flights in the last twenty-four hours, seeing one of his men standing in the open door way. He and Hakyeon had set up a temporary base of operations in his flat in Hammersmith. It wasn’t his best property in this city, but it was sufficient for what they needed.

“Who is it?” the criminal asked, letting his eyes stray back to the paper before him. So far there was no trace of either Jaehwan or Wonshik on any of them.

“Ahem- it’s... it’s Kim Seokjin? He told me that if I didn’t get you on the phone, he was going to slice my dick off with piano wire.” Sanghyuk glanced the man sharply. “Just quoting, sir. Here.”

Reluctantly, the criminal took the proffered phone and held it to his ear, rubbing his temple with his free hand and shutting his eyes.

“Don’t threaten my men, what do you want?”

_‘We have major fucking problems! Like, major!’_

“Explain,” Sanghyuk snapped, sitting up straighter in his chair and catching his second in command’s eye across the table.

_‘Jaehwan knows! Which, I’d kill you too if it you didn’t pay my salary but honestly why the fuck did you-‘_

“Get on with it, I’m busy.”

_‘Your entire security system is down! Like it just fucking crashed! All of it! The compounds physical security, your firewalls, private server, it all just stopped working!’_

“How the _fuck_ did that happen?” Sanghyuk hissed, standing and starting to pace back and forth along the far wall.

_‘Jaehwan! And he’s blocking me from putting any of it back! Even if he wasn’t, reactivating all of this will take days and I’ve already stopped six breaches!’_

“How would Jaehwan know how to bring down my entire security network in,” the criminal looked at his watch, “He can only have been on the ground for a maximum of five hours, including travel time! He doesn’t have any of his equipment, I saw him leave his penthouse with nothing more than a phone and wallet!”

The coder huffed loudly on the other end of the line. _‘Are you forgetting who it is you’re dealing with?! I bet he hacked you the first day he got to the compound! And he has a fucking mansion or something there, no doubt well stocked with equipment! He wouldn’t have needed more than an hour at most!’_

“Do you know where this mansion is? Like an address?”

_‘Of course not!’_

Sanghyuk hissed under his breath. “Get it fixed, hire back up I don’t give a shit, I’ll pay whoever but get it working!”

_‘Have you never listened to a single word I said?! He is better. Than. Me. I’ve already got people working backup, but this is still going to take days!’_

“Fine, keep working and call me with an update if anything else catastrophic happens.” Seokjin hung up the phone and it took everything in Sanghyuk’s power not to scream. “What’s happening?” Hakyeon asked, looking at the criminal with extreme worry.

“The _bitch_ fucked up our security. All of it,” Sanghyuk snapped, picking Darling up from the floor and hiding his face in her soft fur. This was the last thing he wanted to be dealing with right then, finding Jaehwan in London was going to be like trying to find a piece of hay in a veritable mountain of needles. “Why would he do that!?”

“He knows about Hongbin, apparently.”

“Oh... well at least that makes a bit more-“

“Sir, we need to leave immediately. Come with us.”

Sanghyuk whipped his head around to glare at the group of men in the doorway. “What now?!” he spat, tucking Darling in the crook of his arm. “Enemy hostiles outside, ten of them, heavily armed. Based on the tattoos, it looks like operatives stationed here, part of the-“

“I know who has _fucking_ tattoos, let’s move, Hyung,” the criminal said impatiently, unholstering his gun and heading for the exit. His second in command was a pace behind, watching his back the way he always did, always would. This day couldn’t _possibly_ get any fucking worse.

“You understand,” Sanghyuk hissed, carefully making his way down the staircase behind three of his men, “When I get my hands on him, I am going to skin him alive.” Hakyeon shushed him, but the criminal added, “Tie him to a table and skin him alive with my bare hands and a pocket knife.”

“I understand, Hyoggie, I _really_ do, but let’s wait to plan your ex's gruesome murder until after we avoid getting shot,” Hakyeon breathed, back to back with Sanghyuk as they hastily walked through the ally next to their building. The cat was still securely tucked in his gun free arm, and the criminal could see his SUV idling on the curb. Only twenty feet away-

_“Get down!”_ someone shouted, dragging Sanghyuk behind a dumpster and pulling him down to a crouch. Gunfire erupted, pops echoing off the cement walls on either side of the ally. Loud, sharp, by the sound of it they were using AR-15’s and- by the sound of booted footsteps- they were approaching fast.

Sanghyuk focused on the sounds. He was looking directly at Hakyeon, squatting behind a pile of wooden pallets across from the criminal. Not as good cover as the dumpster, but certainly better than nothing. A standard AR-15 magazine held thirty rounds. Sanghyuk hadn’t actually seen the weapons so he had no guarantees, but you could fire roughly once every second, and these people were not being stingy with their bullets.

He had already been counting without even realizing it, signaling his men to follow his lead and holding a hand up for Hakyeon to see. He had three fingers up, ‘28’ lowered one, ‘29’ one finger left...

As expected, the shooting stopped, reload time. He dropped his hand and stood, still mostly shielded by the dumpster as he aimed at the closest hostile, pulled the trigger, and fired.

In the time it took his enemies to reload, Sanghyuk got two and Hakyeon got three. His second was always the better shot between the two of them, and Sanghyuk was relieved. Five left, one of his men was down, this was doable. It had been too long since Sanghyuk got in a proper shootout, his heart was racing, adrenaline pumping. He _missed_ this.

Sanghyuk saw the ruse just as the hostiles shooting stopped for the second time. They had come around the other side. The criminal took the split-second opportunity to sprint across the ally, now crouched back to back with Hakyeon.

“You take the first ones, I’ll handle the backup,” his second in command whispered, Sanghyuk nodding his assent even if the other couldn’t see it.

Darling meowed softly just as the backup appeared at the other side of the ally. “I can’t believe you _seriously_ brought that damn cat!” Hakyeon groaned, he and the criminal standing in unison and taking aim.

“Of course, I did!” Sanghyuk replied, taking down one of the hostiles with a rather excellent shot to the jugular (if he said so himself). “Theses fuckers can take Darling over my dead body!”

Sanghyuk was smiling.

<~~~~~>

Wonshik was hiding in his makeshift lab on the third floor, watching Jaehwan from the window.

The hacker was sitting outside on the walled-in patio, shrouded in a puffy coat and a laptop on the table in front of him, using a wineglass as an ashtray and a pack of duty-free cigarettes by his elbow. He had been there for almost an hour and a half, and the doctor didn’t have a clue what he was doing.

Jaehwan had stepped out when Wonshik’s equipment was delivered (the doctor had absolutely no idea where it came from, but he decided not to question it in hopes of staving off a mental breakdown), but hadn’t said why. The hacker was probably watching him too, on one of the crazy hidden cameras that were apparently stashed all over the house.

_‘You think someone in my line of work doesn’t have connections, honey?’_

_‘Stop calling me that, you’re genuinely freaking me out!’_

_‘What, do you want me to go back to calling you sugar instead?’ ‘I don’t-‘_

_‘Listen up, sugar, I’m not playing fucking games, okay? If you haven’t noticed, I like contingency plans, and a big part of those is being protected in case shit goes wrong. Now, I know you don’t like guns, and I’m not asking you to shoot anyone, but if someone threatens you, I want you to be able to fight back, yeah?’_

_‘Jae... you’re sounding a lot like Sanghyuk.’_

_The hacker huffed, turning back to the bank of live feeds on his left monitor. ‘There’s a difference between being practical and being a violent criminal.’_

_Wonshik hesitated, tentatively reaching out a hand and resting it on Jaehwan’s shoulder. ‘We’re gunna be okay,’ he replied, taking the hacker’s silence as his queue to leave the room._

It was starting to get dark, and the doctor was about to go try and find a shower when Jaehwan looked up at him and waved. Wonshik waved back, his attempt at a smile missed its mark but it was still a valiant effort.

Jaehwan pointed to the doctor and then to the empty chair across from himself, motioning for Wonshik to _‘come here’._ And Wonshik did. He flashed a thumbs up and grabbed his coat, taking the stairs two at a time. Despite all the security in place, and despite the fact that he had been in a gang for the last five years of his life, Wonshik was scared, and he didn’t like the feeling of being alone.

“How’s your workspace shaping up, sugar? Did you get everything you needed?” Jaehwan asked, nudging his cigarettes and a pink plastic lighter in the doctor’s direction once he had taken a seat. “Yeah, everything is all set up, now it’s just a matter of actually working. I’m going to need a blood sample before I can do anything. What have you been doing?”

Wonshik lit up and inhaled deeply, exhaling a contented cloud of grey. “I hate menthols, by the way.”

“Does it have nicotine in it?”

“Yes.”

“Then stop complaining,” Jaehwan replied, shutting his laptop and taking a slow drag. “I’ve been monitoring the cities CCTV, and I found Sanghyuk.”

“You _did?!”_ Wonshik exclaimed, sitting up straighter on the wooden chair. “Well, I found him and then lost him again. He had a little... _scuffle_ with some of the people I sent after him. I wasn’t expecting them to move so fast, but I guess they had agents in the area.”

“And,” the doctor prompted, panic rising in his chest. “Three casualties on his side, as far as I could tell, but he and Hakyeon got in a car and drove away. I lost them along the way, no clue how they managed that, but the whole thing happened not too far from us.”

Wonshik sighed with relief. As angry as he was at Sanghyuk for killing Hongbin and threatening himself and Jaehwan, the kid was still his best friend in the _whole_ world. He didn’t agree with Jaehwan’s choice to _‘fight fire with fire’,_ and he _certainly_ didn’t want to indirectly have a hand in Sanghyuk’s death, but it was pretty much out of his hands at this point.

“The main thing is that they’re here and they’re armed and they’re clearly looking for us. I’ve thrown sufficient roadblocks in their way to keep them distracted, but it’s not a permanent solution. Oh, and he has my daughter with him,” Jaehwan continued, lifting his cigarette to those perfect lips that the doctor still dreamed about.

_Of course,_ Sanghyuk brought Darling. Wonshik wouldn’t have expected less. “Anything new you haven’t told me yet?”

Jaehwan grinned a little, tilting his head back and breathing a cloud of smoke skyward. “I ruined the compound’s security. The whole thing. Seokjin probably pissed his pants when he figured it out.”

“Oh,” Wonshik murmured, thinking of all his friends who lived and worked in the compound. The thought of them in extra danger made his heart twinge painfully. A faint buzzing drew both men’s attention and Jaehwan reached into his coat pocket, pulling out his phone. His _real_ phone, not the burner.

The hacker’s expression hardened to granite. “What is it?” Wonshik asked, scooting his chair over so he could see the screen. “A video call. From your boss.”

“Can he track you?” Wonshik exclaimed, feeling panicky for a whole different reason. “No, sugar. In the least boring terms, you track through locating the cell tower their closest too, kind of, and right now my phone says I’m in Switzerland. In thirty seconds, it will say I’m in Thailand, etcetera. We’re safe.”

“Are you going to answer?”

Jaehwan rolled his shoulders, taking another lazy drag. “Why not? Seeing my face will probably piss him off.”

Wonshik’s hand shot out to grab the hacker’s own, to stop him, but Jaehwan had already hit the accept button.

“Hey lover boy, how can I help you?”

_‘Where are you?’_ Sanghyuk’s voice asked, his ice-cold expression giving Wonshik chills when he appeared on the screen.

“Alpha Centauri, why?”

_‘So I can find you and shoot you in the fucking head. Is my traitor of a best friend with you?’_

“Yep. You’re making our couples vacation a little awkward, baby, can I call you back another time? Or never?”

_‘Don’t you mean getaway?’_

Jaehwan chuckled softly, shifting the doctor’s hand from his wrist to his knee and exhaling a stream of smoke. “Clever! Since when have you been clever? This morning?”

“Don’t antagonize him Jae, please?” Wonshik whispered frantically, but the hacker kicked his shin under the table.

_‘Is that him? Turn the camera so I can see him for a second.’_

For some unfathomable reason, Jaehwan did, angling his phone so the doctor’s face was in frame. _‘You’re fucking dead to me, for good this time,’_ the criminal said, tone perfectly matter-of-fact and lacking all emotion. Wonshik’s heart hurt even worse. “Hyoggie, I’m sorry but I couldn’t let you just-“

_‘Jaehwan, let me see you again.’_ And just like before, the hacker complied.

“What happened to sweetheart? Your beloved?” Jaehwan asked, smirking at the camera when they both saw Sanghyuk wince.

_‘There’s the vindictive bitch I love so much, I wondered why you were playing nice,’_ the criminal replied, Jaehwan smiling wider.

“So why are you actually calling, baby? You didn’t really expect me to tell you where I am, did you?”

Wonshik was just able to see Sanghyuk shut his eyes. _‘I need you to stop fucking with my security system.’_

“And why on earth would I do that?”

_‘Because, sweetheart,’_ the criminal replied, his lip curling as the old pet name left his mouth, _‘You are putting the lives of innocent people on the line, not mine, and I need you to stop.’_

“Oh yeah, because you care so much about people’s innocence! That’s why you killed Binnie, right? Because he was guilty of a crime? Oh, uh wait... no he _wasn’t!_ He didn’t do _anything_ to you!”

Wonshik flinched at the change in Jaehwan’s tone. His playful arrogance of moments ago was now dripping with pure hatred. _‘Just stop whatever it is you’re doing so my people can sleep at night, okay? Come after me if you want but leave them alone.’_

“And what about _me?!_ You think I’m going to be able to sleep now that I’ve seen a video of my boyfriend getting shot?!”

_‘I hope you never sleep peacefully again, sweetheart. And I genuinely don’t think you’ll be able to with the death of innocent people on your conscience.’_

“Well, you sleep like a baby despite all that, you’re going to have to give me lessons.”

_‘Wonshik, tell him. They aren’t just my people, they’re your friends.’_

The doctor didn’t speak, he couldn’t. Not when he could see the hurt written so plainly in the hacker’s eyes. “Don’t try to use Shikkie’s kind soul to your advantage, that’s just unnecessarily mean.”

_‘You’re being super difficult right now. Why don’t you just stop and come meet me so we can talk this through?’_ The criminal’s voice had become soothing, deceptively soft.

“That’s a great joke, baby. Not just clever but witty now too? If only your personality had been so varied before, then maybe I wouldn’t have dumped you for an immeasurably better man!”

_‘I don’t actually have to even bother trying to kill you, sweetheart. Your weak little body is going to take care of that for me now that you don’t have your miracle cure. Why don’t you just tell me where you are, and I’ll bring you some? I had Hakyeon pack a few vials just in case.’_

Jaehwan laughed again. “You think I don’t have medicine? You really think Shikkie and I haven’t been stockpiling? We’ve been planning to run away together for months, baby. If you want to kill me, you’re going to have to work for it,” he lied.

_‘I should have realized. And anyway, there’s no way I’m going to let mother nature take the pleasure of watching the life leave your eyes away from me. But seriously, stop all this security nonsense.’_

“Isn’t this costing you a lot?” the hacker asked, taking a drag on his cigarette before continuing, “Doesn’t it hurt, begging me?”

_‘I’m not begging you for anything, sweetheart. I’m telling you to stop.’_

Jaehwan blew a smoky kiss into the camera. “Maybe if you beg, I will. Maybe.”

There was a pause, a beat of silence.

_‘Please, sweetheart? Please stop.’_ That must have hurt.

“I told you to _beg,”_ the hacker snapped, flicking ash into his wineglass, eyes never leaving his phone screen.

_‘Please sweetheart, I beg you to stop being such a bitch and leave Wonshik’s friends alone.’_

“No, but that was nice to hear. Made me all warm and tingly inside.”

The doctor could feel his imminent meltdown approaching faster the longer these two spoke to one another. He cared about both of them so fucking much and listening to them be nasty was making his already weakened heart start to crack. He didn’t even realize how tight he had been holding onto Jaehwan’s knee until the hacker tapped the back of his hand.

_‘Okay listen to me. You don’t understand how much just speaking to you is pissing me off, but I’m going to tell you one more time. Put my security back. We had a conversation a while ago about how I take care of my people before anything else, and how you refuse to be responsible for the death of innocents, remember? Think back on that and reassess what you’re doing.’_

“Shik is one of your people, if you care so much then why are you hunting him down?”

_‘Because Wonshik is a traitor. And traitors deserve a killing. And you deserve a killing because you’re a liability and I hate you.’_

Jaehwan laughed again, low and throaty, grinning at the camera like a cat. “I remember that conversation, baby, when you were trying so hard to convince me that you’re a good person. Fucking pathetic.”

_‘God! How did I never notice how awful you are, sweetheart?!’_

“I’m done!” Wonshik exclaimed, jumping to his feet and dropping his still-lit cigarette in the wineglass. He couldn’t listen to any more of this, he needed to go somewhere alone and just cry. “I never understood how you two got along so well, but I get it now. You’re both so fucking cruel it’s making me sick!”

Jaehwan looked up at him in surprise, reaching out a hand, but the doctor ignored it. He turned his back and hurried inside, clearly able to hear Sanghyuk say _‘Trouble in paradise?’_ before he shut the door.

<~~~~~>

It had been an hour, and Wonshik’s painful sobs had devolved into slow breathing and starting at a blank wall. It really hadn’t sunk in before, exactly what he and Jaehwan were doing. Exactly where they were and why. His best friend, the scrawny kid he’d found half dead in an ally when he was eighteen and patched up, the person who’d supported him through school, who’d given him a job. Given him a home. _His best friend wanted him dead._

He was halfway across the world, in a foreign country and a foreign house, and the only friend still on his side was acting like a totally different person. Jaehwan wasn’t being Jaehwan. He was cold and ruthless and terrifying. Wonshik longed for sweet Jaehwan, he wanted that familiarity. He wanted his own bed.

A quiet knock on the door roused him for his tangle of thoughts, but barely. “What?” Wonshik called, hearing his voice crack and not particularly caring.

“How are you feeling, sugar? I wanted to give you some time,” Jaehwan said, slowly pushing the door open and sticking his head in. The rest of his body followed, but Wonshik didn’t move. Just stared.

The hacker had showered, his dark hair damp and combed back off his forehead. He looked so _soft_ in his designer t-shirt and cotton shorts they bought at the airport, bare feet. It was an illusion, Wonshik thought vaguely, looking up at the person he’d been fantasizing about for nearly half a year. That cute exterior was just a vessel containing frigid anger and rage.

“How do you think I’m feeling?” Wonshik asked, watching the hacker walk slowly over to where he was sitting on the floor in the corner of his new lab. The doctor swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the lump in his throat. “Probably pretty shitty, huh?”

Wonshik laughed hollowly, letting the hacker take his hand. “Pretty shitty is an understatement,” he replied, staring, unfocused, as Jaehwan knelt in front of him. His expression was almost comically concerned. “Will it help if I tell you I killed my program that broke the compounds security?”

The doctor looked up from their clasped hands. “Did Sanghyuk wear you down that easily? It sounded like you were just messing with him.”

“I didn’t do it for Sanghyuk, sugar, I did it because I don’t want to make you upset. And I shouldn’t have answered that call, I know you don’t like confrontation and I was just picking a fight for the fun of it. I’m sorry.”

Wonshik just stared. The sincerity in Jaehwan’s voice, the worry in his eyes, the doctor felt his tears prick fresh. They were both quiet for a few moments, pressure building and building and building until it finally just broke. “I’m sorry Bin is dead,” Wonshik choked, before immediately bursting into tears right there on the floor.

“Shh, come here,” Jaehwan replied, gathering the doctor up in his arms. Wonshik sobbed, hiding his face in the crook of Jaehwan’s neck and hugging his slim body like it would keep him anchored on the ground. He didn’t know how long he cried, but the hacker talked softly to him, petting his hair and rubbing his back until all of the tears were gone. He felt raw, like a rag that had just been rung dry.

“It’s okay,” Jaehwan said as the doctor sat up. Wonshik saw his smile, and he saw the single teardrop Jaehwan didn’t wipe away quickly enough. “It’s okay. We’re going to be okay.”

**The Resolution**

_‘So unbelievably lovely, my angel...’_

Jaehwan sat bolt upright, his body clammy, the sheets tangled around his waist and skin damp with sweat. Hongbin’s face, blood dripping from the hole in his forehead and rolling down over his wide eyes. The image was still floating across Jaehwan’s vision.

It had been a year since that fateful day, the day where his one, his world, was taken from him. A full year, plus a few weeks, since Hongbin had died. Been _murdered,_ Jaehwan corrected himself in his head.

He had been on the run for just over a year. Running from Sanghyuk for longer than the time they had spent together. He and Wonshik...

“Did you have the bad dream again?”

“Yes,” Jaehwan replied, letting himself be pulled back down, feeling strong arms wrap around his middle and a sleepy kiss be pressed to his ear.

The hacker had the bad dream often. Hongbin smiling at him, that beautiful smile. Speaking to him, crooning at him, with glassy dead eyes and a bullet hole in his forehead. It unnerved Jaehwan, scared him witless, made him feel _unmanageably_ guilty. Hongbin was dead because of Jaehwan’s own ambition and stupidity, and there was no getting around that fact.

“You’re safe, baby, breathe with me.”

Jaehwan could feel Wonshik’s chest rising and falling, and he matched his own inhales and exhales to that rhythm. It helped and he slowly began to relax, leaning into the comforting embrace of his- of _his Wonshik._

They stayed like that for a few minutes, breathing together, until Wonshik’s rhythm changed. He had fallen back asleep. Jaehwan looked over at the doctor, his handsome face peaceful, snoring softly. He spared a moment to brush Wonshik’s dark fringe off his forehead before slipping gently from his arms and getting out of bed.

Pulling a sweatshirt over his head as he made his way toward the kitchen, Jaehwan contemplated coffee.

This place was neither his mansion in Chelsea, nor was it the crash pad downtown. They weren’t even in London anymore. It had become too hard, being in that house. His and Hongbin’s house. Sleeping in his and Hongbin’s bed. Jaehwan had needed to get out of there, start fresh. Leaving London hadn’t hurt the Sanghyuk situation either.

Jaehwan didn’t own this apartment, a beautiful contemporary three-bedroom in Saint Germain. He didn’t actually own any properties here in Paris, and while his mother did, the hacker did not think it wise to stay anywhere that could be traced to him. So, they were renting, and paying an astonishing amount of money at that.

Rummaging through the pantry, Jaehwan found his package of light roast vanilla coffee pods and carried one to the fancy machine Wonshik had picked out. It did about a million things that Jaehwan didn’t care about, making espresso and such, but the hacker would have been perfectly happy with a normal percolator. He had to go and buy his own pods as well because the ones Wonshik liked were darker than Jaehwan’s own soul and so bitter he refused to even touch them.

Jaehwan padded over to stand before the window, listening to the machine begin to hum and looking out at Seine. It was sparkling in the sunrise of the winter day, frost glittering on the plants and sidewalks below, putting Jaehwan in mind of that day in the park beside a different river. The day his ghosts had come alive.

Sanghyuk was an ever present and overarching problem that the hacker has decided long ago to only give the minimum amount of his attention. He hovered invisibly over Jaehwan’s shoulder at every turn like a phantom. Tainting everything Jaehwan did, trying everything possible to ruin the solace and peace Jaehwan had found with his doctor. Sanghyuk always ruined everything.

The coffee machine sang its little song and Jaehwan sighed, padding back over to it and taking his warm mug in both hands. There was something he had been contemplating, something to fix the problem of-

“It’s so _early,_ Jyani, being up this early is physically painful.”

Wonshik stumbled out of the hall and into the kitchen, sweatpants low on his hips and eyes still very much closed. Jaehwan couldn’t stop a smile. “You can keep sleeping, Sugar. Go back to bed,” he replied, making a shooing motion.

The doctor either ignored the gesture or he plain didn’t see it, scooping Jaehwan up in one arm and relieving the hacker of his coffee with the other. “Cold,” Wonshik mumbled, sipping from the stolen mug and making a comical face of disgust.

“This tastes like burnt sugar water.”

“Does it have caffeine in it?”

“Yes.”

“Then stop complaining,” Jaehwan replied, giving his doctor an affectionate pat on the cheek. Wonshik grumbled, dragging the hacker into the pantry with him and not letting go as he retrieved his own expresso pod.

Only once the machine has dispensed his coffee and he had taken a sip, did the doctor decide he was awake enough to speak in complex sentences. “Sometimes you can fall asleep after the bad dream, was this not one of those times?”

Jaehwan shook his head.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry you have to go through this. It isn’t fair,” the doctor murmured into his hairline, pressing soft kisses to his temple. Jaehwan was grateful for the comfort, immeasurably grateful, but he shook his head a second time.

“It’s not your fault, but I’ve been thinking. About whose fault it actually is, a way to finish this.”

Wonshik looked at him seriously, directly in the eyes. “Did something happen? Did one of your alarms go off?”

The _alarms_ in question were certain precautions Jaehwan had put in place. If Sanghyuk or Hakyeon’s names appeared in passenger manifests, border crossings, things of that nature, as well as all of the aliases Wonshik had provided. Jaehwan would know. Reports of large-scale violence, robberies, shootings, the kind of events that the criminal left in his wake. Jaehwan would know.

“No, Sugar, as far as I can tell he’s still in Nantes. I assume he thinks I’ll be stupid enough to try and go home. But we need to end this for good.”

The worry in Wonshik’s eyes turned to actual concern, and not without reason. It’s not as though Jaehwan _hadn’t_ actively tried to get Sanghyuk killed before, albeit unsuccessfully.

“Drink your coffee and wake up a bit, I’ll run my plan by you later,” Jaehwan said, smiling softly at his doctor and sipping from his own mug. When he tried to move away toward his office, Wonshik caught his hand.

Jaehwan didn’t protest, accepting the kiss and letting it warm his chilly heart. Wonshik always made him feel warm, safe, even on the coldest nights when desolation and loss threatened to crack him in half. The hacker melted into it, tasting black coffee on his doctors’ lips and feeling the steady heart beating against his own.

It was okay. They were going to be okay.

<~~~~~>

“Hello?” Sanghyuk said, hitting the answer button on his phone and sitting up in bed. It wasn’t every day he got video calls, but he forced himself to try and look as dignified as possible. Pretending he _wasn’t_ groggy and sleep soft, kneeling in the center of a hotel mattress with no shirt on.

_‘Good morning, Sanghyukkie.’_

The voice, _that_ voice, woke him more abruptly than a bucket of ice water to the face.

“Sweetheart?!” he asked, voice gruff and cracking. The pet name was shocked from him before he remembered that it was not how he addressed this traitor anymore.

Jaehwan laughed quietly. _‘Did I wake you?’_

“Yeah, what time is it?” Sanghyuk replied, tilting the phone towards the ceiling so he could rub his eyes without Jaehwan seeing.

_‘If you are where I think you are, it’s around seven thirty.’_

“And where is it that you think I am?”

_‘Chateau de Challain, room 204.’_

Sanghyuk didn’t mean to gape, but the fact that Jaehwan knew what city he was in, let alone what hotel, caught him off guard.

_‘You really shouldn’t use your real name at check in, it’s honestly an amateur mistake.’_

“To what do I owe the unexpected pleasure of your call, sweetheart?” Sanghyuk asked, injecting as much sarcasm into his tone that the early hour would allow. Jaehwan looked healthy, a fact that brought the criminal only frustration. Healthy but a bit wan, dark shadows painted under his eyes and cheekbones prominent. That scar was still plain, slicing diagonally through his eyebrow.

Jaehwan sighed, letting his eyes fall shut for a moment.

_‘I’m tired, love. I’m tired of running from you.’_

Sanghyuk could see that, weariness written in every curve of his young face.

“Does that mean you’re finally going to give up and let me kill you?”

Jaehwan gave a derisive snort.

_‘No, but I’d like to sit down with you and talk. In person. Just us.’_

Something out of frame got Jaehwan’s attention and he looked away from the camera, shaking his head minutely.

“Is that my traitor? What does he think of your idea?”

Sanghyuk saw his hackers jaw clench. _‘Wonshik thinks I’ve lost my mind, I’m sure he’d tell you so himself.’_

_‘No shit I do! He’s going to kill you before you even sit down, and I won’t let you put yourself in that danger again!’_ Wonshik’s angry voice said from out of shot. It niggled at something in Sanghyuk’s mind, irritated him. He wanted to prove his ex-best friend wrong.

“Alright, I’ll do it. I’ll meet you. We can get coffee, but this will mean you have to tell me where you are, sweetheart.” Sanghyuk heard a frustrated groan and he grinned.

_‘I won’t tell you where I am, Love, but why don’t we meet in Paris, Cafe de Flore in Saint Germain. Give me two days to get there.’_

Another huff and the distinctive sound of someone getting smacked. “Fine, sweetheart, that’s fine. Noon, two days from now?”

_‘Noon. See you soon.’_

Sanghyuk forced himself to wink before ending the call. Something about this was off. It was too easy. He had been chasing the hacker for so long now, and Jaehwan was just giving up? It wasn’t like him. But Jaehwan _was_ unpredictable and not a little unstable. It would prove interesting if nothing else.

Scooping Darling off his pillow and setting her in his lap, Sanghyuk dialed his second’s number. It barely took one ring.

_‘Hyoggi?! Why are you awake!? What’s wrong?!’_

He was only one room over and Sanghyuk could almost hear Hakyeon’s voice through the wall. “Jaehwan and I are having a date.”

<~~~~~>

  
“Jaehwan, what can I say to convince you not to go through with this?”

To say that Wonshik was unhappy would be a fucking understatement. The plan was useless in one case and pointless in another. Sanghyuk was going to shoot them both the second he laid eyes on them. And if Sanghyuk did get... _taken care of,_ he had connections! He’d be back! No matter how much Jaehwan believed it would work, Sanghyuk was not to be trusted in any capacity. That idea still hurt him deeply, but if the last year had proved anything to Wonshik, it was the truth of his best friends’ ruthless brutality.

“Nothing. Everything is already in place, it’s happening, and I’m allowing you to come with me against my better judgement,” Jaehwan snapped, looking at himself in their bedroom mirror.

Wonshik had watched him dress, like each garment was a piece of armor and Jaehwan was about to walk into battle. It was still slightly unnerving, this side of the hacker that could be as cold and calculating as Sanghyuk.

“If I know Hakyeon, and I’m sorry to say I know him almost better than I know myself, he’s not going to let Sanghyuk walk into this alone. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let you meet them two to one,” Wonshik replied.

He buttoned his collar and pulled on his coat, letting Jaehwan fuss. His hacker straightened the doctors tie, smoothed his lapels, tucked a stray lock of hair into place. It was incongruously soft when matched with Jaehwan’s stormy mood. Wonshik couldn’t help but crack a small smile.

“What do we always say, Sugar?” Jaehwan asked, eyes like steel and hands resting on the doctor’s chest. Wonshik leaned down to steal a kiss, letting his lips linger for a touch longer than necessary. He didn’t think he’d ever get over the elation that he had the privilege to call Jaehwan _his._

“We’re going to be okay.”

“Exactly, now let’s get going. It wouldn’t do to be late,” Jaehwan replied, pursing his lips in an attempt to disguise a grin.

The cafe Jaehwan had named was only three blocks from their apartment, another fact that had set Wonshik on edge. Sanghyuk would probably have men out watching the surrounding area. Because he wasn’t an idiot. But Jaehwan had a serine expression on his face, anyway, huddled in his midnight blue wool coat and holding Wonshik’s hand as they walked.

Just as the doctor had predicted, he saw Hakyeon sitting at Sanghyuk’s side as they rounded the block. “Look alive, baby. We’ve got company,” he murmured, tucking Jaehwan under his arm and swapping Jaehwan’s hand to his free one. They both had their guns, but the weapons would do basically no good against these two.

Sanghyuk stood from his spot at the woven plastic table as they approached, his eyes flashing with something that was _almost_ hatred but not quite. Wonshik couldn't identify it, and he didn’t like it. Hakyeon stayed seated.

“Long time, no see,” Sanghyuk said, voice even as he leaned down and kissed Jaehwan’s left cheek. It was a greeting so abnormal for him that the sight almost made Wonshik laugh, but Jaehwan returned it perfunctorily and then sat. Sanghyuk didn’t greet the doctor, and Hakyeon still hadn’t spoken.

“This is a cozy place for a double date, don’t you think?” Jaehwan asked, picking up a laminated menu and scanning it. Wonshik dropped at arm around his shoulders, lightly tugging his ear. The hacker was putting on a brave front, but Wonshik knew how nervous he was. He was here to support Jaehwan in any way that he could.

“Quite. Now, why did you want to-“

Sanghyuk was interrupted by Jaehwan speaking to a waiter in rapid French. Wonshik had picked up enough of the language to understand he had ordered them both cappuccinos before he turned to the criminal. “What do you two want? Drinks, food?”

“Whatever you recommend,” Sanghyuk replied, not smoothing the irritation off his face fast enough. Jaehwan smiled and made it four cappuccinos.

“So, what have you two been up too? Enjoying Nantes?” the hacker asked, resting his head on Wonshik’s shoulder. Sanghyuk flinched. “If you know what hotel room I was staying in, I’m sure you know exactly what we’ve been up too.”

“Not really, I try to think about you as little as possible,” Jaehwan replied, tone pleasant and nothing but conversational. “It’s hard for us to live a normal life when you are threatening us at every turn.”

“We’d rather you weren’t living any lives at all, normally or otherwise,” Hakyeon said, crossing his arms. Wonshik looked at the second in command with no small amount of confusion. Had Hakyeon forgotten that he was the one who warned them, that he had gotten them out of the country behind Sanghyuk’s back? Of course, he wouldn’t have. But maybe his opinion of them had changed.

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence. “You- you asked me to come here to catch up?” Sanghyuk asked, sounding slightly unsure of himself as the waiter returned and set their drinks on the table.

“For the most part, yes,” Jaehwan replied, fingers tapping out a rhythm on the doctor’s knee under the table. It was an unconscious movement, but Wonshik understood it none the less. He shifted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one and passing it over. Jaehwan graced him with one of his eye-crinkling smiles and took a drag, his expression instantly switching to one of disgust.

“This isn’t menthol,” he whined, smoke trickling from between his pouted lips.

“Does it have nicotine in it?”

“Yes.”

“Then stop complaining,” Wonshik replied, their normal banter. Just like that, it was like the two of them were alone. Sitting in a café and chatting about nothing, people-watching, enjoying the warmth of each other’s company as they had done countless times. The doctor grinned like an idiot, leaning in and dropping a kiss on the hacker’s cute nose. Jaehwan laughed under his breath, pressing his lips to Wonshik’s once, twice-

“Please, I’m going to vomit into my coffee,” Hakyeon said, voice flat, prompting Wonshik to pull away and let the hacker snuggle under his arm. Sanghyuk was looking at Wonshik for the first time since they had sat down, and the doctor felt that old anxiety bloom in his chest. His constant inability to speak up, to defend Jaehwan, to contradict his best friend when he was angry.

“How’ve you been sleeping, sweetheart? Peacefully?” the criminal asked, taking a sip of his cappuccino with his eyes still glued to Wonshik’s.

“Like a baby,” Jaehwan lied. He took a drag on his cigarette, but the lie must have shown on his face because Sanghyuk flashed a cruel smile. “Mm, the traitor isn’t doing a good enough job of fucking your nightmares away?”

That ability to always cut right to the heart of something was a talent Wonshik had envied and despised in equal measure. And he sat there, mute, panicking the way he always did. Jaehwan _did_ have nightmares, not all the time but still he- he _did_ have them and there was nothing the doctor could do to help them. He had tried giving Jaehwan pills to help him sleep but they only seemed to magnify the bad dreams and make them worse. He tried to help Jaehwan afterwards, soothing the tension from his muscles and evening out his breathing, but-

“Oh, for _fuck’s sake,_ Sanghyuk,” Jaehwan sighed tiredly, not bothering to shout. “We _all_ know you’re a jealous little boy but there’s no reason to act like it, is there? It’s exhausting.”

Sanghyuk paled, eyes flashing with hatred as Wonshik’s choked on a laugh. It wasn’t usual for the hacker, not rising, but Wonshik understood. Jaehwan was tired of confrontation, tired of the fighting and the poison words. Everything had been a fight with Seokjin, and then everything had been a fight with Hongbin. Everything had been a fight with Sanghyuk and his old doctors and his parents and Jaehwan was just tired of it. They had had a long talk about it, Wonshik and Jaehwan, under the covers in their bedroom in the dark. He needed calm, peace, a love that didn’t hurt him and comfort him in equal measure. Wonshik was more than happy to provide that, and even when they did bicker, it was a conversation, not just throwing insults back and forth like knives. And their disagreements were few and far between.

“I asked you here to see if we could resolve this, if you had _matured_ enough and had enough time to see how absurd this whole situation is and let us live our lives apart, but from your expression I’m going to take that as a no?” Jaehwan continued, lacing their fingers together under the table. That wasn’t the real reason, but Wonshik knew Jaehwan still hoped.

“He _betrayed_ me, sweetheart. I know you can’t really understand what that means because you lived a different lifestyle, but there is no getting past betrayal,” Sanghyuk spat, the words tugging at the old wound in Wonshik’s stomach. That accusation stung and it stung badly.

Jaehwan sighed once more, lifting the cigarette to his lips. It was almost time.

“I tried, love. I tried to give you the opportunity to make amends, but you feel nothing, do you? Nothing about trying to kill me or Wonshik? Nothing about murdering Hongbin? No regret, no remorse?”

“Of course, I don’t.”

“What was it like, watching my Hongbin die?” Jaehwan asked, his hand trembling but voice steady.

“Like a breath of fresh air.”

“Sanghyuk,” Hakyeon murmured, eyes flicking to Wonshik and then around at the chilly street, but Sanghyuk wasn’t paying him any attention.

“Aren’t you going to brag, love? Rub his _murder_ in my face?” Jaehwan prompted, leaning forwards a bit in his chair.

“What do you want to know, sweetheart? How the life left his eyes? What the gunpowder smelled like after I shot him in the head?” Sanghyuk replied, nasty, face full of cruel amusement. “Was the video not enough?”

“No! I want to _hear_ you say it!” Jaehwan said, his voice getting louder as he stood up.

The criminal stood too, shaking Hakyeon’s restraining hand off and leaning across the table. “I murdered him, sweetheart. I took him away from you and now you will be an empty husk of vanity and manipulation for the rest of your life without your enabler to fill the chasm where your heart would be if you had one,” he replied, taking the cigarette from Jaehwan’s shaking hand and lifting it to his own lips.

Another beat of silence, then Jaehwan let out a shuddering breath. He looked down at the doctor, blinking hard, and then glanced at Sanghyuk.

“Thank you.”

“What?” Sanghyuk snapped, clearly taken aback.

“Thank you,” Jaehwan repeated, and the waiters who were _not_ waiters appeared, pointing their guns at Sanghyuk and Hakyeon’s heads. “I really needed to hear you say that. Say hello to my new friends at Interpol. I've been consulting them on their cyber security.”

_“What?!”_ Sanghyuk shouted, but the officers were everywhere, swarming them and pinning the two criminal’s down on the table.

“You’ve been causing international mayhem, love, and they needed a confession. No better way to get you to talk than making you angry,” Jaehwan said, reaching into his shirt and pulling out the microphone that had been taped to his chest.

Sanghyuk spluttered, his and Hakyeon’s hands being cuffed and their rights being read. “You fucking bitch, you’re wearing a _wire?!”_

“All’s fair in love and war,” the hacker replied, handing his mic and recorder to one of the officers. It was a _dreadful_ cliché but Wonshik couldn’t bring himself to laugh. Couldn’t bring himself to do anything but wrap his arms around Jaehwan like iron bars.

“Let’s go home, Sugar. I need a shower. That was horrible,” Jaehwan said quietly, hugging the doctor tight.

***Alternate Hongbin Chapter***

Sanghyuk was _incandescent_ with rage. He could feel it, boiling just under his skin like acid.

Wonshik had gone behind his back. His _best friend_ had snuck around and plotted to save the life of the person Sanghyuk most wanted dead. And he had been doing it for months.

Months. Months and months and _months._ Betrayal after betrayal, and Wonshik still had the audacity to try and tell Sanghyuk that he was being paranoid. And tell him that repeatedly. How fucking dare he?!

How had Sanghyuk been so stupid?! _As if_ Wonshik would actually be dating someone. How could he have fallen for it?! His and the made-up girlfriends ‘dates’ had been every three days like fucking clockwork! If Sanghyuk have given that story even an ounce of consideration, the frequency alone would have given away the lie almost immediately.

Sanghyuk stomped into the elevator, directing his men to watch both the front and back doors, as well as the stairwell, while four of them escorted him up to the penthouse.

Before leaving the compound, Sanghyuk had commandeered Hakyeon’s key, using a little more force to do so than he would have liked, so when they reached the door to Jaehwan’s apartment, he slid it in the lock with every confidence it would work.

It didn’t. Damn Jaehwan and his stupid security system to hell.

“Break it,” he said curtly, stepping back so the bulkiest of his men would have a clear path. The _lock_ may be electromagnetic, but the door itself was still wood, and wood could be easily defeated by brute force.

With an echoing crack, the door gave with little protest and it swung open. Sanghyuk unholstered his Glock, holding it loosely in one hand as he prowled into the penthouse.

“Jaehwan? Wonshik? Where _are_ you?” he called, but there was already a sinking feeling in his stomach. They weren’t here.

They _had_ been here not too long ago though. Jaehwan’s lavender body wash (the smell of which now made Sanghyuk physically sick to his stomach) mingled in the air with Wonshik’s distinctive musky cologne.

He slowly, carefully, made his way down the hall to where he knew the hackers home office to be. It was empty, but the object he was looking for lay forgotten on the black wood desk exactly where the criminal expected to find it.

Across the screen of the tablet that controlled the apartments security system, the words _‘Front Door Breached, Movement Detected in Living Room and Right Hallway’_ flashed in bright red font. The warning fell on deaf ears.

Sanghyuk picked it up and began clicking around, only the slightest bit thankful that the hacker had shown him how to use it when they were still on good terms. He found his way to the library of security footage, selected the live feed, and then rewound until this morning.

The first thing he saw from the kitchen camera was Jaehwan and Hongbin kissing in front of the sink, a jewelry box lying open on the counter. Sanghyuk grit his teeth and fast forwarded, watching a highspeed version of Hongbin leaving and then of Jaehwan dancing around the living room to music the criminal couldn’t hear. He hadn’t actually seen the hacker in over three months. He looked healthy. Sanghyuk wished he looked like a walking corpse instead. The mere sight of Jaehwan being happy made the criminal’s head throb with anger.

Once the timestamp reached 11:08 am, the hacker spun around (a full ballerina twirl) and skidded to the front door, revealing the criminal’s backstabbing traitor of a best friend with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Sanghyuk hit fast forward again, through the procedure, and then switched to the upstairs camera, slowing down again once the two were inside Jaehwan’s closet. They were talking, Sanghyuk could see their mouths moving as the hacker looked through his clothes and Wonshik sat on the couch in there. That closet was really over the top, it was almost the size of the doctor’s bedroom at the compound.

Before he realized what was happening, Jaehwan was stripping out of his clothes, giving the doctor a distinctly sly look. Sanghyuk squeezed his eyes shut and counted to thirty. He couldn’t see Jaehwan’s body, he just _couldn’t_. Couldn’t ever. Not again. Mercifully, the hacker was dressed when the criminal peaked at the screen, and then, Wonshik got a phone call.

The feeling of the clip switched on a dime. Wonshik spoke frantically and nearly dragged Jaehwan from the closet, and Sanghyuk moved to the downstairs cameras again. He saw Jaehwan push a red button on the wall, Wonshik grab his wallet, and they were gone. The timestamp said 11:36 am. Sanghyuk checked his watch. It was 11:41. He missed them by 5 _fucking_ minutes.

The criminal was different now, after loving and losing. He understood that about himself. The experience had changed him. And as painful as it was, Sanghyuk thought it was for the better. Someone in his line of work had no room for sympathy, no room for weakness. Losing Jaehwan had lifted the fog of compassion from his mind, leaving him sharp and clear. Hakyeon always tried to tell him that being kind wasn’t a flaw, but Sanghyuk understood that to be incorrect now. It was wishful thinking.

He was a cruel person by nature, violent and brutal and vicious. The criminal had tried to change who he was for Jaehwan, tried to be ‘better’. There was no reason to continue that effort any longer. He had to embrace his true self, be cunning, because that’s what being the leader of the Han family demanded of him. No more playing games, just taking care of business.

The girl his mother had set him up with would do. She was fine, well connected and not entirely unattractive. And she was smart enough to know what she was getting herself into. It was long past due for Sanghyuk, settling down, choosing a wife. An heir to the family was what was required, and so he would provide one. Their wedding was next month, but he couldn’t bring himself to feel either happy or sad about it. It was necessary, and so Sanghyuk was going to do it. It was business. Just as finding and eliminating traitors was business. The family always came first.

Hongbin. The call was the catalyst of this whole thing, and Wonshik was clearly on friendly terms with the gamer. It _must_ have been Hongbin. He had close ties with the Jung family, and if Wonshik was a traitor, Sanghyuk had absolutely no doubts that the Jung’s had someone in his own family reporting to them.

If Sanghyuk was going to find his runaway prey, Hongbin was the place to start.

\---

Hongbin was packing. His overnight bag was unzipped, lying open on his bed, swallowing up the items he dropped inside. His boarding pass was printed, already in the front pocket of his back pack with his passport and his emergency stash of cash. He would have to get it changed to pounds once he landed, but Hongbin wasn’t worried about that right now.

He was still in shock. So Sanghyuk had finally gone off his rocker. That wasn’t a surprise, what _was_ a surprise was that the object of his anger was apparently Jaehwan. That idiot loved Jaehwan, loved him more than he had any right to! What could have gone wrong in his stupid brain to make him want to hurt Jaehwan of all people?!

“Taek, I need you to do me a favor and it’s a genuine emergency,” the gamer said into his phone as he placed a shirt in his bag.

_‘Last time you said that, I regretted helping you before I even finished.’_

“I know, but I need you to dig around and find out why Sanghyuk would be after Jaehwan and Wonshik. I guess the threat he posed them was so big they are heading to London to try and avoid it. I don’t know anything more than that, but I’m catching a flight in a few hours to meet them.”

_‘Oh shit, fuck! Are you serious?!’_

“Deadly. Can you do it or not?”

_‘Of course, I can. Give me an hour and I’ll get back to you.’_

“You’re a life saver, thank you!”

Taekwoon hung up without another word.

Depositing several pairs of socks in the bag, Hongbin tried to remember where his travel toothbrush was. Jaehwan had put it somewhere when they got home from Aruba over the summer. If _he_ were Jaehwan, where would he put a travel toothbrush? The fridge probably. Or in his office. Somewhere that made _no_ logical sense, that was for sure.

But there were toothbrushes at the crash pad. That was low priority. The gamer yanked several long sleeve shirts off their hangers and dropped them in his bag without bothering to fold them. It was winter in England, just like it was here, he needed warm clothes.

When Hongbin had grabbed everything he needed, he gave his overnight bag and backpack a final once-over.

Socks, three shirts, some sweatpants Jaehwan bought him, two pairs of jeans, one pair of sneakers. There was also a beanie, two pairs of sunglasses, black leather gloves, and a hand knitted scarf of light blue wool his aunt made him in college. That was plenty. Now, the backpack. His passport, 20 thousand dollars in cash, a one-way ticket to Heathrow airport, laptop, headphones, mouse. 

Hongbin was set to leave. And so, he did. 

\---

A gunshot rang out through the empty apartment.

Sanghyuk took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. The bedroom reeked of gun powder, acrid ammonia. Sanghyuk had always loved that smell, even as a child when he would practice shooting on the range with Hakyeon and his father. It smelled like the solution to every problem. But apparently, not this problem.

After taking a moment to compose himself, the criminal stepped around the bits of plaster that had fallen from the place where he shot the ceiling and started looking for clues. 

Nothing in the bedroom that he could see. 

Nothing in the bathroom.

Nothing in what had once been Jaehwan's office. 

In the game room, though, Sanghyuk got lucky. He approached the printer and saw a sheet of paper sticking half way out, only partially printed but it told him enough. 

The criminal pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed Hakyeon’s number, holding it to his ear as he looked at the half printed boarding pass.

_‘Hello?! Sanghyuk?!’_

“Yes, it’s me, calm down.”

_‘Are you alright?! Where are you?!’_

“Don’t shriek, it gives me a headache. I need you to arrange for one of my jets to be fueled and ready on the airstrip in two hours.”

_‘Where are you going?!’_

“ _We_ are going to London, start packing. I’m heading home to pick you up.”

_‘Why?!’_

“Are you listening, get the jet ready!”

Silence on the other end of the line. Sanghyuk could only hear his second in commands uneven breathing.

_‘Why do you want to go to London?’_

“Because,” Sanghyuk snapped, feeling more exasperated with each passing moment his orders went unfollowed, “Hongbin had a ticket for a flight going to London tonight, and I think I’m right in guessing that the bitch and our traitor are going there as well. Now make arrangements and be packed by the time I get there.”

Without waiting for a reply, Sanghyuk ended the call and spun on his heels. There was nothing else for him to do here, he had gained some useful information and that was enough for the criminal for now.

"With me," Sanghyuk said sharply, exiting Hongbin's apartment and stepping into the elevator. He was frustrated and tired, but he could sleep on the plane.

Sanghyuk had always loved London. Murdering his best friend and ex-lover there would be almost poetic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *You made it to the end!!!! Congratulations!!!!!*

**Author's Note:**

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